Meet the Other Phone. Only the apps you allow.

Meet the Other Phone.
Only the apps you allow.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Royal Children - Time for State school?

464 replies

microplastic · 17/07/2024 15:45

Should the Royal Family children be educated in state schools? Why do they get to attend private schools on taxpayers money? Is this something the Labour government could push for?

OP posts:
microplastic · 17/07/2024 16:53

BarHumbugs · 17/07/2024 16:52

I don't see why security would be harder in a state school. If you are the head of state, you should be proud of that state and all it provides. they should use the NHS, public transport (which should be state owned) and state schools. If they're not good enough for the head of state, they shouldn't be for anyone else.

Exactly! The state schools should be good enough for them.

OP posts:
florasl · 17/07/2024 16:53

There are thousands of children sent to private school at the cost of the government, not just the royal families children. All military children are entitled to boarding school fees paid by the taxpayer.

XDownwiththissortofthingX · 17/07/2024 16:54

ISeriouslyDoubtIt · 17/07/2024 16:38

I assume this is a joke comment? Or are you just stupid? If the monarchy is abolished and we become a republic, do you seriously think that there would be no need for any security costs for the President and their children?!! The head of state and family would run the same risks of assassination, kidnap etc as the royals do now, and the state would fund security for them. So if you're concentrating on security costs it would make no difference.

President/Monarch is not an either/or proposition.

XDownwiththissortofthingX · 17/07/2024 16:55

This reply has been deleted

Message deleted by MNHQ. Here's a link to our Talk Guidelines.

TeenagersAngst · 17/07/2024 16:55

Shielehdie · 17/07/2024 16:21

Taxpayers don’t pay for the private education of the Royal Family’s children. The family pay for it privately using the income from King Charles’s Duchy of Cornwall Estates.

Labour would also never mandate any person be denied the right to privately education their children. Not only would it be a wildly unpopular policy, it would be completely unworkable and would likely breach the European Charter of Human Rights.

I’m a republican and don’t believe we should have a royal family at all, but I don’t see it as the business of government to decide what they spend their own money on.

I think banning private schools is precisely the sort of policy many Labour MPs would love to see - at the Labour Party conference in 2019 (I think), a motion was passed to ban private schools. Angela Rayner and Rachel Reeves are in favour of this.

Putting VAT on school fees, announced in the King's Speech today, also breaches EU law. But that's not stopping them.

BarHumbugs · 17/07/2024 16:55

Morph22010 · 17/07/2024 16:51

What like Donald trump? Or maybe president boris. No thanks give me our unelected head of state

You don't want to live in a democracy? WW2 was a waste of time then!

DawsonsFreak · 17/07/2024 16:56

microplastic · 17/07/2024 15:45

Should the Royal Family children be educated in state schools? Why do they get to attend private schools on taxpayers money? Is this something the Labour government could push for?

Where is your evidence that taxpayers pay the children's school fees? Working royals are paid through the civil list for work they do as working royals and appropriate security whilst on royal duties. Anything else comes from their own pockets, I believe. I'd like to see your evidence to the contrary.

Ioverslept · 17/07/2024 16:58

Precipice · 17/07/2024 15:47

There shouldn't be "royal" children at all. The UK should become a democracy.

You mean a republic?

XDownwiththissortofthingX · 17/07/2024 16:59

BMW6 · 17/07/2024 16:32

The UK already IS a democracy FFS.

Did you sleep through the recent General Election?

Was that the one where Charles was elected Head of State?

Delphiniumandlupins · 17/07/2024 16:59

Probably not a great idea, mostly because of security issues (which are easier to manage at a private school which already has walls to keep the commoners out). Why stop at schooling, would you also insist they shouldn't use private healthcare?

Having said that, I would abolish the RF completely. All this talk of them "using their own money" when they have inherited it over generations...

Scorchio84 · 17/07/2024 17:00

cupcaske123 · 17/07/2024 15:52

What about a democratically elected head of state?

I just don't get the royals...I hate my politicans too but at least they're voted in

NeverMetASussexSquaddieILiked · 17/07/2024 17:00

This reply has been deleted

This has been deleted by MNHQ for breaking our Talk Guidelines.

Well quite.

An awful lot to say for someone only here on a work visa.

If they don’t like it? They can always go home.

And yet…

llamajohn · 17/07/2024 17:01

florasl · 17/07/2024 16:53

There are thousands of children sent to private school at the cost of the government, not just the royal families children. All military children are entitled to boarding school fees paid by the taxpayer.

No they're not.

Kitte321 · 17/07/2024 17:01

JFC 🤦‍♀️
Could labour force this to happen? No. Because they’re not the boss of everyone are they?

notbelieved · 17/07/2024 17:03

How ridiculous.

SemperIdem · 17/07/2024 17:03

microplastic · 17/07/2024 15:54

They currently attend schools you know. Surely security measures can be put in, More cost effective than the full cost of their private education.

No shit they attend schools now.

You seemingly don’t understand the cost of security details even slightly.

llamajohn · 17/07/2024 17:04

Boomer55 · 17/07/2024 16:52

It might be a good idea, in theory, but the disruption and security that would need to be involved, means it’s not realistic.

Anyway, I’m not sure William and Kate would want the kids mixing with the hoi-polloi🤷‍♀️

Perhaps they don't. But probably for the same sort of reasons you don't want your kids mixing with the county line kids, the kids who are taking knives around with them, the kids who are smoking and driving mopeds round at 4am etc etc

florasl · 17/07/2024 17:04

@llamajohn yes they are, the government fund about 8,000 boarding school places for service children.

AzureAnt · 17/07/2024 17:04

Why should we get rid of our monarchy? And replace with some grey bloke in a suit who will..live in a heavily fortified mansion with armed bodyguards and have their children educated privately (and also have bodyguards) why should be give up our traditions, the colour, the pomp, the parades? the excitement of schoolchildren waiting for the King/Queen to visit. The high profile visits to charities, the Knighthood ceremonies? The pride of the families of those who are knighted? The prestige of being honoured by the monarch?
Just leave is and our traditions alone. There is enough crap going on already? Don't make it more depressing
(And I'm not a raging monarchist btw)

MouseofCommons · 17/07/2024 17:08

Do you want to sort out the security? The children, all the other pupils and staff need to be quite literally bombproof. No way could you keep them all safe.

XDownwiththissortofthingX · 17/07/2024 17:08

AzureAnt · 17/07/2024 17:04

Why should we get rid of our monarchy? And replace with some grey bloke in a suit who will..live in a heavily fortified mansion with armed bodyguards and have their children educated privately (and also have bodyguards) why should be give up our traditions, the colour, the pomp, the parades? the excitement of schoolchildren waiting for the King/Queen to visit. The high profile visits to charities, the Knighthood ceremonies? The pride of the families of those who are knighted? The prestige of being honoured by the monarch?
Just leave is and our traditions alone. There is enough crap going on already? Don't make it more depressing
(And I'm not a raging monarchist btw)

How about we get rid of the Monarchy and don't replace it with some bloke in a suit?

We already have an elected Prime Minister who already attends most of the important engagements of the HoS anyway.

The nonsense of the Honours system, the "tradition", and the utter bullshit of the "tourism" argument are some of the reasons why we should begin living in the 21st century and stop pretending its still 15'something.

French murdered their royals, and yet the French tourist industry is just fine. How many Americans/Chinese/Japanese visit Buckingham Palace and actually see a Royal?

llamajohn · 17/07/2024 17:09

florasl · 17/07/2024 17:04

@llamajohn yes they are, the government fund about 8,000 boarding school places for service children.

No the MOD provide an allowance /% of fees of some service children, of their posted overseas bet. . They don't pay every military child's total fees.

It's around 4,000 funded places.

LiterallyOnFire · 17/07/2024 17:09

microplastic · 17/07/2024 15:48

Why would security be an issue, I'm sure that can be accommodated. Don't think it's strong enough a reason.

I think a village school and then state boarding are eminently doable.

IdLikeToBeAFraser · 17/07/2024 17:09

microplastic · 17/07/2024 16:53

Exactly! The state schools should be good enough for them.

I'm sure the education at a good state school would absolutely be good enough for them. But I'm guessing you've never been past the average state school have you? We have 3 excellent state high schools in our area. 2 are rated Outstanding and appear on the Sunday Times Best Schools list. From an education perspective, I am confident that the royal children would do just fine at either of those schools.

But the practicalities!? Oh my god.

Both schools are MASSIVE (6-8 form entry depending on year group) and while well funded and looked after, the additional costs to create the right kind of security - doors, windows, fences, walls etc would be massive. Both schools are in residential areas where traffic and parking is already a nightmare - an additional massive amount of traffic due to rubber neckers, additional security, media etc would be horrendous. I imagine that their security worry also about things like line of sight - so what houses are nearby/gardens are close to the school etc - in densely urban areas, that's going to be a lot more complicated to manage (I don't think it's a coincidence that as the children have started getting older they've moved to a more rural setting for their private school). The schools are both hugely diverse which I would say is actually a good thing, even more so for the royal children. BUT... it does make being able to figure out how to monitor risks or spot those children/families who might target them a lot harder.

Even extra curricular - both schools have strong extracurricular offerings. But NOTHING like what's on offer at a private school. This is more of an issue becuase again, if I was the W&C, I would want as much of what my children do to happen at school where security is already in place and to avoid too much driving around, background checking on groups etc etc etc.

Bananabreadandstrawberries · 17/07/2024 17:10

microplastic · 17/07/2024 15:53

Why not? We've had threads heavily debating the VAT, with posters saying that private school parents are snobs. Surely the UK state school system is good enough for the royal family. It's good enough for the rest of us.

There’s “good enough” which I believe state schools should be, and then there’s “the very best” which is impractical for most state schools but if people can pay to attend or have the privilege to attend, then of course they would.

Pretty sure the future king is going to attend “the very best”. As he should.

Swipe left for the next trending thread