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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To ask - there's enough anti monarchy feeling here as a result of PA and Epstein to say that many of us want to change the way royals are funded.

37 replies

Swellerellamoo · 25/08/2019 09:56

Just that really. Would you vote to stop funding the monarchy today if you could?

Yabu - for no I wouldn't
Yanbu - for yes I could

OP posts:
EEmother · 25/08/2019 13:26

I am not convinced either way. What I find interesting is that it is quite possible (even expected by many experts) that practical immortality for the super-rich will be achieved still during Prince George's lifetime. Hereditary monarchy will definitely be re-defined then.

IceCreamAndCandyfloss · 25/08/2019 14:00

I’d rather pay 69p to the royals than many other things tax pays for.

They have huge tourist appeal and do a great deal for charity causes.

Tax payers monies funds millions of people, the royal family is a small part of that yet bringing in a lot of income.

MarieIVanArkleStinks · 25/08/2019 14:03

This nonsense that 'the Windsors bring in far more money in tourism than they take' - where are people regurgitating this nonsense from? (I suspect, the Windsor's own propaganda machine). It's utter bilge, and when even slightly broken down simply doesn't stand up to the lightest scrutiny.

The former, the 'bringing in' of money to the UK by the power-earning Windsors is unquantifiable. Based on the following, though, it's highly likely to be bunkum. Top UK tourist destination: The Tate Modern. Coming in at 20 is Stonehenge. Falling in between are various attractions from Chester Zoo to the major London cathedrals. The Windsors and their numerous homes fall nowhere on that list.

As for taking money from the state the same criterion holds true. It too is unquantifiable, for the very good reason that the Windsors are amongst - if not the only people in the UK who are exempt from the Freedom of Information Act. This exemption extends to every member of their family. They pay tax at an amount they think they will - could be £1 per annum for all we know - and only after succumbing to intense public pressure. The funds used to doll up their numerous grace and favour homes are astronomical. We're not only supporting an unelected head of state, but a vast, bloated, extended family of them (£ms on a home refurbishment for the 6th in line - why)? A conservative estimate of their cost including security is £350m PA.

Arguments about benefits -v- costs are as nebulous as trying to catch the moon in a bucket with a fishing net. They're baseless. You don't know - because they don't want you to know.

Even so, it isn't funding that is my main reason for objecting to a monarchy. They're an affront to equality, democracy and meritocracy. And they behave in such a way (not discounting the tax 'exemption' (would be evasion for anyone else) that would land any other citizen of these islands with a prison sentence. These people are lawless.

There needs to be a huge spotlight of transparency shone on the whole lot of them; not just Elizabeth's particularly loathsome second son. Their finances should be one stop. More importantly, why are pertinent questions not being asked - particularly in the wake of the Epstein scandal - about why the next successive air was so cosy with the most notorious child abuser of them all?

There's a 100-mile-radius miasma swirling around the whole lot of them, and it stinks to high heaven. Should total transparency be forced upon the Windsors in the name of real equality and democratic accountability, how long would they last?

leckford · 25/08/2019 14:08

No, I like the Royal Family, leave them alone. Who would you propose as president - Comrade Corbyn.

There is no political will for this

1vy44 · 25/08/2019 14:32

@MarieIVanArkleStinks

Thanks, well argued points.

janj2301 · 25/08/2019 14:37

None of them should be funded and we shouldn't pay for the upkeep of their palaces and the £46 million the Met pay just to fly overseas for royal protection detail should be diverted to actual policing

mrscampbellblackagain · 25/08/2019 14:46

I have surprised myself by thinking they need to go or the whole thing be drastically re-worked.

And all the patronages of charities - well really does it make a lot of difference nowadays. I am not going to go and line a street to wave at any of the current royals.

Keep the line of succession but let the rest bugger off and do what other rich people do - I imagine that would be a great outcome for many of them to be honest.

BarbariansMum · 25/08/2019 14:50

I'd happily be rid of the lot of them. But I've felt like that for 30 years.

BarbariansMum · 25/08/2019 14:54

Not sure why I should help fund them, just because you like them leckford. How about we move to a voluntary subscription system of royal funding?

RuffleCrow · 25/08/2019 14:56

Yy to voluntary subscription. And we should vote on how many we are prepared to subscribe to.

ConfCall · 25/08/2019 15:21

I used to be indifferent but the recent Andrew scandal and the Harry/MM hypocrisy has me leaning towards a republic. Andrew was always a liability imo, but when Harry and Meghan got engaged I actually felt quite positive, because I respected him, and I thought that she would be a good influence in general. It’s unfortunate how things have turned out. Maybe a re-work if the funding would be a starting point.

MarieIVanArkleStinks · 25/08/2019 15:25

Yy to voluntary subscription. And we should vote on how many we are prepared to subscribe to.

This would be great entertainment. The media is constantly spinning to the UK public how much 'we' love these people, that we revere the institution of the monarchy, that we believe it to be the 'envy of the world'. (Who are these envious foreigners, who wish they had a monarchy just like ours? I've yet to meet one).

I think your suggested voluntary subscription scheme would give a far more accurate reflection of how 'loved' they are. I predict they'd be gone within a month.

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