Well, I hated the coronation…

[TheColourofspring]

I can see I am in the minority on here but I found yesterday to be distasteful on a gigantic scale. To watch the most privileged people travel in gold coaches & be decorated with diamonds and gold that is priceless in the face of millions of people struggling to eat/heat their homes just feels so wrong.

Our primary school has just opened a food bank. There are kids & families in crisis- children coming into school hungry & smelly as families can’t afford to wash clothes (I am not joking) - living in Dickensian conditions. Some of the teaching staff use the foodbank.

Yesterday was a display of obscene wealth. The royals didn’t even pay for it- we did. How can we find money for that absolute nonsense yet we can’t find money for large swathes of the population to feed themselves.

While Charles was sitting there in his gold costume holding these priceless items, plenty of families weren’t eating. It made me really angry.

I am tired of all the arguments for a royal family- how somehow these displays are quaint. Yesterday was an obscene display of wealth, inherited privilege and everything that’s wrong with this country. Seems a conversation about the royals is long overdue.

The crown don't own the crown estate

The state does

The Windsors like to pretend they do but they don't

You mean for the second time. We were a republic under Oliver Cromwell but it wasn't exactly a raging success, probably because it was too puritanical (cancelled Christmas etc.).

The monarchy was then reinstated and has been in place ever since.

The whole world knows when it was, stop pretending it never made the news in Twickenham.

🤣

Cromwell was just a bit too early otherwise I don't doubt England would have joined France

I think you’ll find you’re wrong..

https://www.thecrownestate.co.uk/en-gb/about-us/our-history/#:~:text=The%20Crown%20Estate%20is%20though,throne%2C%20as%20will%20his%20successor.

Let's have some background to this which hasn't been lifted off the republic website.

In getting rid I mean
And yes Cromwell was too puritanical

I enjoyed the coronation. My daughter was enraptured. It was a lovely event. Just because there are poor people in the country it doesn't mean we are not allowed to celebrate anything ever.

So, here's my feeling...

Bank of England bosses tell the masses to get used to being poorer, there just IS less wealth.

Older generations tell millennials and younger not to expect to buy a house as they just can't be frugal anymore, if they laid off the Netflix and avocado toast a house would be forthcoming...

Yet our government tells us there's no money for a payrise for NHS employees, no money to pay child benefit if a parent earns over 50k etc etc but they CAN somehow find the money for a big party to celebrate the coronation. Why doesn't that fall under 'you need to accept there's less wealth than there once was, you need to cut your cloth accordingly' it a bit more expensive than a Netflix account and avocado toast!

Then they give an extra bank holiday BUT have the big help out 😬 because sure all the proletariat won't be working, must keep them efficient, get them helping out... While the king and queen recover regally from their big party.

Pile of balls.

George 111 nearly went bankrupt in 1760

He handed over the 'crown estates' in return for an income and not having to pay any costs for the country

It's not exactly obscure history

the crown estate is held in right of the crown . Once Windsors are gone 100 will go to the public purse
Currently we get 75% ( the 'royals' take can never go down year on year)
This was introduced to place the Civil List

amp.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/jan/19/cash-and-the-crown-estate-a-look-at-the-british-monarchys-funding-deal

He handed over the income, not the ownership.

Do you ever read anything other than the Guardian?

But our parliaments are always elected by a minority of those who even bother to vote.

@Novella4

"And protest is a right - not a concession "

+++

I agree protest is a right but it does not trump another person's right to celebrate without disruption.

Sorry but the police were simply ensuring that "not my king" protests didn't disrupt the celebration of the event by others.

If you feel strongly enough about it then by all means protest in your local town centre next weekend and I will gladly support your right to do so.

@Barnbrack

Exactly

I think I’ll accept the Crown Estate’s version.

The Crown Estate is though owned by the Monarch in right of the Crown. This means that the King owns it by virtue of holding the position of reigning Monarch, for as long as he is on the throne, as will his successor.

@1dayatatime

You have contradicted yourself

A right to peaceful protest is not contingent on not offending others

@Blossomtoes

'In right of the crown ' means as a representative of the state

So as I said - the 'royals' do not own it . That is a fact

The state does . And once the Windsors are gone the state will get 100% of the profit .
The Windsors don't manage it either and Charles can call himself 'ranger ' and lean against trees all he likes - it's lies and subterfuge as usual

I have a bit of cognitive dissonance around this as I’m a republican and essentially agree with you, but equally it was lovely to see all the street parties and people having a nice time. It’s been a really rough 5 years and the country badly needed a bit of escapism and a party.

I enjoyed it very much, it was executed in spectacular fashion. Felt proud to be British etc etc. I find these kinds of events uplifting, I'm sure a lot of "the poor" do too. The coronation is not making them any worse off.

I’ve supplied you with a nice, simple to understand quote which states

The Crown Estate is though owned by the Monarch. Education in this country really is shit if an adult is incapable of understanding such a simple, straightforward sentence.

@Blossomtoes
I'm sorry you are making a bit of a fool of yourself

The crown estate you linked to is written by Windsor inc . Clearly designed not to be clear and easily understood.
It appears to have worked in your case

The crown estate is not the Windsors private property . It is owned 'in right of the crown' ie not the actual people ( Windsors ) but as the abstract representation of the state
No Windsors = the state owns it completely
I'm sure this has been gone over many times

This is correct. It essentially earns the revenue for the Rf but doesn’t belong to them. If the royals were booted out tomorrow the estate profits would belong to the taxpayer.

Very odd.

Why does your right to watch an uninterrupted coronation trump the rights of those who wish to protest the event itself to the point their rights are literally policed?

I know it’s not the Windsors’ private property. Neither does it belong to the state. And it never will. Should any government be misguided enough to get rid of the monarchy, complex negotiations as to how it would be handled would take place. Along with the massive task of disentangling all the elements of state rooted in the monarchy which would make Brexit look like a walk in the park, the process would take decades and cost billions. If anyone objects to the monarchy on the basis of cost it’s nothing compared with the cost of removing it.

The King and Prince of Wales pay income tax

You missed out the "voluntarily", LittleBearPad - also that they're exempted from Corporation Tax and IHT, the second of which most certainly does "tax wealth"