AIBU to think Harry and Meghan are taking the piss?

[ohymygodbethenny]

How are people not more outraged? And no, tourists do not visit the UK specifically because of the royal family.

"This year, 320,000 people were recorded as homeless in Britain"

Just one line in the report "Monarchy’s annual contribution to the UK economy in 2017 is £1.766bn" There is no argument here. People just don't like the RF and want to use 2 million as an excuse to moan about them.

BrandFinance are just some random consultancy firm. I work in a very similar industry and I know how these kind of firms operate. They've their own, entirely subjective, approaches to interpreting data and their own biases. Equally a different firm could come back with exactly the opposite story and tell it in an equally credible sounding way.

In this case, looks like the major objective of that report is getting some press coverage (makes sense, looks like it worked).

Of the £2.4m, £400k will be VAT so that will go to HMRC. Of the remaining £2m, most will be wages, so half of the wages will also go to HMRC in PAYE/NIC etc. Of the "profit" made by the firms involved, 19% will be paid to HMRC in corporation tax.

So, in reality, well over half of that £2.4m will find it's way back in HMRC's bank account.

LaurieMarlow you missed out the small but important point of who actually paid for the report to be produced

It may be, of course, that they just did it out of interest or a genuine wish to add something to public knowledge... or then again, it may not

LaurieMarlow
You can read this too which does reference the brand report later on and does mention your points above.

fullfact.org/economy/royal-family-what-are-costs-and-benefits/

But I don't think anyone can say they drain money from I'm taxpayers.

If people think RG spending 2million could have been better placed then why are they not grumbling about companies like Amazon and starbucks using loopholes to avoid paying the tax they should? That kind if money would be worthwhile, but 2million would never even be noticed.

The trouble is these 2 want the trappings and celebrity of being in the royal family without putting in the dreary labour. I'm fed up with the pair if them.

Oh and how do you know that @sunnyingrimbsy?
Do they call you up and let you know how they feel or is that you just making crap up and likely reading too much daily mail?

"Fed up with the pair of them" as if you need to put any effort in

They don't seem to do any more or less than William and Kate @SunnyInGrimsby. Harry's usually out and about doing visits to various charities and patronages during the week and Meghan didn't shy away from royal engagements before she went on maternity leave. Her cookbook with the Grenfell kitchen ladies made half a million, which is fairly impressive for someone who'd only joined the royal family a few months earlier.

Neither couple do as much as Edward or Anne but that's because they're the monarchs grandchildren, not her children. Once Charles becomes king they will have to step it up a notch.

Once Charles becomes king they will have to step it up a notch

What, even Edward? Heaven help us

Though I suppose he could always run another It's a Royal Knock Out ...

Prince Edward carried out 3 most engagements last year.

royalcentral.co.uk/uk/princessanne/princess-anne-was-the-busiest-royal-in-2018-having-completed-518-engagements-113624

@Puzzledandpissedoff No I meant William and Harry, as they'll be the monarch's children. Plus the likes of the Kents and Gloucesters are getting on a bit. Edward and Sophie actually do a fair bit but they don't have the glamour of the Cambridges or Sussexes so you don't hear about it.

Ah - sorry, PineappleFwitters, I thought you meant Charles's siblings

Though come to think of it, there'll could well be more work for them too ...

Quite possibly. They were probably looking at easing off a bit but the Queen's cousins, who also do a lot of engagements, are in their 80s so won't be around forever. But of course there's the whole 'slimmed down monarchy' thing that Charles is apparently talking about, so who knows?!

@Kazzyhoward that is not the point. Why use 2.5 million to knock five houses into one for three people, when they already had a home. It is extravagant, greedy and corrupt.

A point... The house still belongs to the Crown Estates. .
It is a listed building.
So the landlord did the renovations..
At no point will any of the royals be able to sell the houses their Granny let them live in....
I also bet Harry has paid several million on extras.. So they get no equity in the building...

Get things into perspective OP. Boris Johnson’s vanity project, Garden Bridge, cost taxpayers £43 million, with nothing whatsoever to show for it.

And still people will VOTE for him WILLINGLY to be our next PM.

Harry and Meghan and their house spending are really not among the biggest problems this country has. Not even close.

@Bandara

Why use 2.5 million to knock five houses into one for three people

5 delapidated flats in a carved up listed building converted into one restored house.

They were probably looking at easing off a bit but the Queen's cousins, who also do a lot of engagements, are in their 80s so won't be around forever.

The Queen, plus various Kents and Gloucesters did 857 engagements last year. Even if a quarter of those patronage’s disappear when their current holder stops doing duties or dies that’s still over 600 to be dished out. Charles won’t be able to slim it down too much - he’ll need his siblings to pitch it, and Harry and Meghan.

Edward and Sophie particularly seem to get all the jobs that involve going abroad for events involving other royals.

there's the whole 'slimmed down monarchy' thing that Charles is apparently talking about

I admit I've often wondered about the motivation behind this. It could be taken as a wish for the sort of slimmed-down monarchy many want, but given Charles's endless self-absorption I'd suggest it could also be an attempt to avoid the spotlight being over-shared ... not to mention the available goodies

Lyralalala, I wish they would publish details of these "engagements" as the term is rather vague. How many of them are useful and how many are jollies such as film premieres and days at the races, etc. The things that the rest of us do for pleasure and have to pay for.

One persons pleasure is another persons pain.

Dh loves racing, football - to me I’d go if I absolutely had to & would hate it.

Me - museums - dh Hates it & would find it a chore

Jillb55 They do publish the details. The are in the Court Circular, and you can look up what any engagements any of them are doing on any given day on the website.

It’s a bad time to do it as they go to Balmoral for summer, but today the Queen was at a high school in Scotland (that will have been popular with the kids who’d planned on skipping the last day!) and tomorrow she and Prince Charles are at the Scottish Parliament

Wow, that sounds like the sort of job I'd like to do. What qualifications do I need? Where do I apply? Oh.

Thanks for those details about the various palaces lyralalala very interesting! Barnwell must of had a massive heating bill.

Marry some old sod with a working title whose not less than 3 times removed from the queen BlamesFartsOnTheNeighbour then you can do a similar day job

From fullfact on facebook:
This week it was reported that £2.4 million of taxpayer money was spent renovating the new home of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.
While the money spent could be considered public money, technically it wasn't taxpayer money: buff.ly/2ZP2QuV