to think the Queen should refuse this gift?

[WitchesSpelleas]

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-54915124

"A committee of MPs and peers has been set up to choose a gift "fit" for the Queen to mark the 70th anniversary of her accession, in 2022.
Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden said it would be a "token of our respect". For her Diamond Jubilee in 2012, the Queen had a stained-glass window created for her in Westminster Hall."

The Queen has everything she could possibly need, and the money to buy anything she could want.

This gift will be funded by donations from MPs - of course, it's up to them how they want to spend their money - but at a time when so many of her subjects are struggling financially due to the impact of Covid19, I think it would be appropriate for the Queen to ask the MPs to make a donation to a UK charity instead of spending the money on a Platinum Jubilee gift.

Why aren't you away helping out at your local soup kitchen instead of having digs at a nearly 100 year old woman?

We're in the middle of a pandemic and I'm adhering to the rules of lockdown by staying at home.

@WitchesSpelleas

Why aren't you away helping out at your local soup kitchen instead of having digs at a nearly 100 year old woman?

We're in the middle of a pandemic and I'm adhering to the rules of lockdown by staying at home.

But you'd normally spend your Saturday afternoons at the local soup kitchen, yes?

But you'd normally spend your Saturday afternoons at the local soup kitchen, yes?

Soup kitchens aren't my chosen means of charitable volunteering, and Saturdays not my ideal day because I sometimes have to work a Saturday.

The reason she’s still “doing duties” etc at her age is because the “duties” aren’t or never have been physically draining. She’s led a life of total ease surrounded by servants, never has to lift a damn finger. Add to that the fact she’s never had to wait for scans, hospital waiting lists etc, has her own person physician, never had to worry about money, not just for her but for the whole lot of her scrounging family then it’s no surprise she’s hale and hearty. I deplore how much money we throw at this awful family who don’t give a toss for the rest of us. Look how much she openly supports Andrew, that says it all imo.

Just to add, I don’t believe for one minute that tourists come especially for them. We’d get more if they were gone and the umpteen palaces they have we’re thrown open to the public.

A gift for the nation? Seriously? Who in the nation is going to benefit out of it? The Queen gets enough from the nation already!

@ILoveYoga

So op she should turn down a gift, if anything like the last, a stained glass window in Westminster hall - a public building open for viewing by all - for free? That kind of selfish gift?

Get real.

Something such as this actually brings in more revenue for the public purse than it will have cost the MPs personal donations. Do you have any concept of the money brought in by tourists, both British resident and foreign visitors (of course not during a pandemic).

There’s no evidence to say they bring in extra revenue through tourists. That’s a myth they love to peddle to justify their existence. We’d get more tourists if they were gone just as France does most probably.

Well, that isn't what I said. What I said was that the gift of a stained glass window in London cannot be said to benefit the whole nation.

Except we have a Commonwealth, and many visitors to the UK who will make Westminster Abbey a point to visit. Tourists bring money to the UK. And jobs. Hopefully foreign tourists will return next year.

The reason she’s still “doing duties” etc at her age is because the “duties” aren’t or never have been physically draining.

Quite. Her 'work' is being chauffeured in a limousine somewhere to be fawned over and waited upon by local dignitaries, being shown the best of whatever the place has to offer in surroundings that have been cleaned and polished to the nth degree, then being chauffeured home again to find all her housework has been done for her and a meal of her choice is waited to be served to her.

I'd call that a holiday, not 'work'. Not just a holiday, but the ultimate in luxurious holidays - if I go on a pleasure trip somewhere I have to get there under my own steam, probably on a packed and uncomfortable train, and either do all my housework the day before or have it to do when I come back.

YABU, mean spirited and unpatriotic.

A woman in the place I work is retiring having worked there for 30 years. We've had a collection so we can but her a gift to show our appreciation.

I mean, she doesn't need it. Her mortgage is paid off, she has an excellent pension and ultimately all the money came from tax payers as I work in the public sector.
So perhaps we should just donate to a food bank instead.

No. We won't do that, because we appreciate her time and loyalty over years. It's a mark of respect and it's my money.

Go pay attention to your own business and not how other people spend their money.

I haven’t read the whole thread, but for Liz’s sake (and ours) I hope they don’t do a Mary Wollstonecraft.

@BlazeMonsterMachine

YABU, mean spirited and unpatriotic.

A woman in the place I work is retiring having worked there for 30 years. We've had a collection so we can but her a gift to show our appreciation.

I mean, she doesn't need it. Her mortgage is paid off, she has an excellent pension and ultimately all the money came from tax payers as I work in the public sector.
So perhaps we should just donate to a food bank instead.

No. We won't do that, because we appreciate her time and loyalty over years. It's a mark of respect and it's my money.

Go pay attention to your own business and not how other people spend their money.

I am resolutely, unashamedly, nay, proudly 'unpatriotic!

I don't think I'm mean-spirited, but you're entitled to your opinion.

I presume, since you appreciate her, your colleague must have worked at least reasonably hard during her 30 years' tenure. I doubt her daily routine was to be chauffeured to-and-from your workplace, and then to sit around all day while you all fawned on her.

My MP is my elected representative, and since this gift is being organised by a parliamentary committee, in parliamentary time, it is absolutely my business and my right to have an opinion on it.

We’d get more tourists if they were gone just as France does most probably.

I don't know, man. The weather... The food... The beaches🙈
Joking of course (kind of). They do generate a lot. Tourists will always pay more to try to see them. No one pays to try to see a president. As far as I know. Plus every wedding is another thing. No one goves a damn if president or prime minister marry. I was tasked to bring back to my family and friends some William & Kate wedding memorabilia stuff (tourist crap😂) and the jubilee. I was never tasked to bring anything about PMs. She also looks better on cushions than Boris would imho.

It's incredibly big market.

You might want to keep whatever you can to bring tourist money in after Brexit... And that includes Royal family and some interesting one time gifts which tourists will want to see...

GIve the woman a break - she didnt really choose to be Queen. SHe was born in to a role and a life style she never really had a choice in. Yes so it's a wealthy one but she has so many rules and protocols that dictate her life and those of her children. I cant imagine not being able to just be me but she cant! She has to be the Queen nearly all day every day until she is on her own or with just her family and then she can be her, which must be very rare! She is also one of the longest reinging monarchs the UK has ever had - deserves a bit of a nod i think. She's managed to not personally do anything stupid, embarass the country, be a bitch... Infact she's been pretty unwavering and about the only constant in our lives.

Yes she is minted but not by her choice, she was just born that way. It's not tax payers footing the bill - it's the MPs. They can spend their money on her if they like and it's pretty rude to then refuse something they have planned for 2 years!! By which time the pandemic will have died down.

I'm not a royalist by any means, but the Royal family never asked to be royal, they were born in to that life just as we were born into ours. It's just their lives a basically a full time job from the day they were born. They cant have a regular life, not even! they cant just pop to the shop or the movies, there are protocols about going to the toilet, what they can eat, how they can eat it, what they can wear, they cant have personal opinions in public or in front of anyone that might leak what they said, they are photographed every where... it's not as if they are some wanna be that wants fame and then moans about the lack of privacy - they had no choice from the moment they arrived in the world. So if i was in her shoes and i had been doing my job for nearly the longest of anyone in my role in history - i'd want a bloody gift too!!

Tourists will always pay more to try to see them. No one pays to try to see a president

I take the point about presidents, but please don't tell me there are still people who imagine they'll bump into HM for the price of their admission? Maybe even be invited for tea?

I don't suggest it never happens, but there's no helping people like that ... and anyway they'd do better to save their money and wander through Windsor Park, where much of the road traffic is generated by RF members. Just think, they might even get run over by Andrew or Philip

Tourists will always pay more to try to see them.

How often do they appear in public? Hardly ever. Once a year you might catch them on their way to and from the Trooping of the Colour; other than that they're only seen when one of the more senior ones gets married and it's deemed a state occasion.

Yes, they sometimes appear on semi-public visits in the provinces, but security restrictions means there's never sufficient notice to allow tourists to visit specifically to see them. The Queen turned up in the town where I live a few years ago and it was only announced a couple of days beforehand.

Since all the the adult Waleses and Yorks are now married, and Prince George is only 7, it'll probably be another 20 years before the next state Royal Wedding. Hardly value for money.

Nah we’d get loads more tourists if all those palaces were standing empty. The Palace of Versailles gets much more than any of our palaces. We shouldn’t have an unelected head of state. It’s bizarre.

Oh stop with all the sycophantic ma’am. Queen has choices,she’s chosen to stay
Harry chose to leave.
There’s always a choice

@Puzzledandpissedoff positive thinking😂😂
I did have some friends and family asking if they go there and there during some events if they might see her. They younger ones were interested more in princes before the wedded😂
It's not hoping to get invited for tea, just to see them from closer than through a tv.
Let me just add that I am now refusing to take anyone else to London because I absolutely loath it after being unpaid "tourist guide" for years😂

@almondfingers22

Nah we’d get loads more tourists if all those palaces were standing empty. The Palace of Versailles gets much more than any of our palaces. We shouldn’t have an unelected head of state. It’s bizarre.

Have you seen general public's voting record... This might be safer option😂

she has to be the Queen nearly all day every day until she is on her own or with just her family and then she can be her, which must be very rare!

Rare?

The Queen spends three months a year alone with her family in Balmoral over summer and two months in Sandringham from December to February.

That's five months - nearly half the year!

The average worker in the UK gets 28 days' holiday per annum, and we've already established that the Queen's idea of work is what most of us would deem a series of luxury day trips.

No one goves a damn if president or prime minister marry. I was tasked to bring back to my family and friends some William & Kate wedding memorabilia stuff (tourist crap

The money saved through having a presidency, if modelled on Ireland’s, would far outweigh any revenue from cheap royal souvenir tat . Besides that there is no justification for having a monarchy just because of tourism, even though I don’t believe that they make a difference anyway. It’s a weak argument.

we've already established that the Queen's idea of work is what most of us would deem a series of luxury day trips

No we haven't, but you seem very wedded to the idea

No we haven't, but you seem very wedded to the idea

So how would you describe being chauffeured in a limo to be shown round a town with your own personal tour guide, being fed, waited upon and then chauffeured home again?

The average worker in the UK gets 28 days' holiday per annum, and we've already established that the Queen's idea of work is what most of us would deem a series of luxury day trips

Exactly, that is what they are, luxury day trips with absolutely everything done for her from the moment she gets up to stepping in her awaiting car. All the ground work and immense preparation done by her minions. Wouldn’t most pensioners stay hale and hearty if they got that kind of treatment. They sicken me with their greed and entitlement.