It feels tone deaf William and Kate talk of moving to Windsor

[Poetrypatty]

With most people their age unable to buy any sort of home of their own, it just annoyed me. What's wrong with Kensington Palace and a Norfolk mansion. Doesn't portray the Royals in a good light to me. AIBU?

The Queen is far too tax savvy (some would say tax avoiding)

Just don't mention the Paradise Papers

Oooh !!! @CathyorClaire
I've just googled them.
Blimey!!! Had no idea.

And yes... Loved 'Jackie.'

@Monopolyiscrap

If it was about security, why is Catherine shopping in Peter Jones Department Store in London? She was photographed there recently.

Good God - she has very limited personal freedom anyway, and now you resent her trying to do something as normal as popping to the shops!

For nothing else than given that the Queen to Charles and then Charles to William will be completely tax exempt estates because of Sovereign to Sovereign transfers. The Queen is far too tax savvy (some would say tax avoiding) than to give ownership of something that William will personally inherit in full

Shes no daft, is she, not to mention she signs off every bit of legislation, including the tax stuff!

Is that what William and Kate said tho? In some interview they exclusively gave about the status of their house moving plans? That they are moving there etc etc? Or did you read it from some paper who reported it?

Royal Lodge and Bagshot Park are owned by the Crown Estate and leased to royal leeches Andrew and Edward under exceedingly favourable terms.

How interesting. We weren’t talking about them. We were discussing Amner Hall.

Tut, tut OP.

You should know better than criticise angel Kate Middleton.

You see no one cares about royals moving houses , well............not if you are not Meghan and Harry, there you have a big problem. Everyone is all up in arms then.

They either think pushing this all out during the jubilee will put a happy spin on things or know the reign is drawing to an end....

The Queen is 96 this year. We all know it’s drawing to an end.

@CathyorClaire

I think there are plenty of celebs who rub our faces in it with their wealth

Do you mean their (debatably) earned wealth?

Yes, people like Paris Hilton, say.

@notanotheroneagain I agree that Catherine and William are not allowed to be criticised.

@Lockdownbear

For nothing else than given that the Queen to Charles and then Charles to William will be completely tax exempt estates because of Sovereign to Sovereign transfers. The Queen is far too tax savvy (some would say tax avoiding) than to give ownership of something that William will personally inherit in full

Shes no daft, is she, not to mention she signs off every bit of legislation, including the tax stuff!

She’s not.

Considering atm Sandringham Estate will pass down, no matter what happens, completely tax free to her descendants she’d be daft to do otherwise really.

This way even if Charles died before her, or William died before Charles does, there’s not a penny of tax.

If there’s a divorce - tough. Kate, or George’s wife or Charlotte’s wife or Louis husband have no claim as the spouse doesn’t own it.

Both of those mean the security stays in tact as there have total control over who lives there.

She’s got it sussed completely.

@Blossomtoes

Royal Lodge and Bagshot Park are owned by the Crown Estate and leased to royal leeches Andrew and Edward under exceedingly favourable terms.

How interesting. We weren’t talking about them. We were discussing Amner Hall.

They were given leased properties for the same reasons.

guaranteed that Charles will cover the lease cost, then William and then there’s no taxes to pay. No houses to be lost in divorces etc.

We won’t see another Southyork saga again I don’t think. Frogmore and the drama is the closest to it.

@Poetrypatty

I think these places cost numerous millions to renovate before they move in, so a google says 4.5 million on KP. All I'm saying really is that timing wise it seems tone deaf. But then again royals are going to be royals I suppose. I do personally think the whole RF should be slimmed down a lot after the Queen and that includes not wasting millions.

Presumably it depends on the state of repair of the property in question. Old buildings need a lot of upkeep, as will a lot of the furniture.

Of course it also depends upon how much of a diva the spouse is...

Smart woman, I like a bit of girl power, are we allowed to credit her with girl power?

It's a great pity Kate never managed to produce a girl first. OK we know it's really Wills fault but it's a shame for girls and women that we are stuck with 3 men in line to the thrown.

@Lolliepoppie

Windsor can be a tourist attraction.

One of the main attractions is that Windsor is a living working castle and a royal residence and has been for over 1,000 years; so few castles and palaces across Europe can claim this.

Reducing Windsor to a tourist attraction, rather than home of the monarch where she receives foreign dignitaries, confers honours, reviews groups, hosts receptions would be to leave an empty shell.

Windsor Castle has over 1,000 rooms. Only a fraction of that space is actually used.

Can't get excited. The Queen has loads of properties for her personal use including Buck House, Windsor, Sandringham, Balmoral and Holyrood and Charles has loads too. It's all obscene isn't it? Why are we paying for all this stuff and making their spoilt lives miserable? It's ridiculous.

It might be tone deaf if they came on MN asking for advice about whether they should move or not on a thread about how people weren't going to be able to manage due to the increasing cost of living - otherwise, no it's not.

Get a grip OP, it's got nothing to do with you.

Renovations may include building maintenance. But Royal renovations have also included decorating, installing an indoor swimming pool, installing a yoga studio, relandscaping the gardens, installing a cinema room, and laying new carpets. These are luxury residences. The renovations include improvements, or just redecorating to their personal tastes.
The Royals who have leased properties pay way under market rates. And in many cases the lease is paid for through taxpayers money given to the Queen who then hands it out.

@Monopolyiscrap

Renovations may include building maintenance. But Royal renovations have also included decorating, installing an indoor swimming pool, installing a yoga studio, relandscaping the gardens, installing a cinema room, and laying new carpets. These are luxury residences. The renovations include improvements, or just redecorating to their personal tastes. The Royals who have leased properties pay way under market rates. And in many cases the lease is paid for through taxpayers money given to the Queen who then hands it out.

You’re talking about Frogmore Cottage. The Sussexes paid for all that extravagance themselves, albeit reluctantly following public outcry.

@Blossomtoes no not just Frogmore. Lots of the palaces have swimming pools, tennis courts and cinema rooms. They are luxury abodes. But when people talk about renovation, it is as if they are talking about plastering the walls of a semi-derelict house and installing a bathroom.
Renovations are often really upgrades and redecoration. The equivalent of Johnson's renovation of the downing street flat i.e. redecorating to their taste and sometimes adding new luxury elements to the house.
That is to be expected of ultra-rich people. But it is not a justification for a lease price way below market rent.

Just remember every penny they spend keeps someone else in a job.
If these big properties weren't used and lived in they'd very quickly fall into disrepair. Unused and unwanted.

HMQ never seemed to holiday outwith the UK. Part of it is probably security reasons but I can see why she'd want different places to escape to.

@Monopolyiscrap do you expect that they should be using the local pool and the security who haa that would create?

People are creatures of habit it wouldnt take long for it to become known Royals are at x time on a Saturday. That then becomes a target not just for them but every other person in the area. Police checking the area for bombs every week.

Far cheaper to build them a private pool.

The pennies could be better used to employ more teachers.
The National Trust manages large stately homes and stops them falling into ruins by making them tourist attractions.
The younger royals all holiday a lot outside the UK. So does that mean we need to sell some Royal Palaces?

@Lockdownbear my point is that people are justifying incredibly cheap leases on palaces by talking about the amount of money they paid for renovations. Redecorate, put new carpets in and gardens, and upgrade luxury elements if you want to. That does not justify getting a very cheap lease.

@Lockdownbear

Just remember every penny they spend keeps someone else in a job. If these big properties weren't used and lived in they'd very quickly fall into disrepair. Unused and unwanted.

HMQ never seemed to holiday outwith the UK. Part of it is probably security reasons but I can see why she'd want different places to escape to.

I’m not sure I’d want to holiday outside the UK if I had a choice of stately homes to stay in.