George’s education costs

[Honest23]

Who here would honestly happily contribute to George’s education costs?

Reported to be £68000 a year at Eton.

Well I'm sorry to hear that: is this your first day on Mumsnet?

Yes, I understand they have some private wealth. Which perhaps raises the question of why they need quite so much extra on top of it....

Perhaps if we had a sense of what comes out of their 'private wealth' and therefore what the slack is that the state needs to pick up, that would help. "So, ok, you don't need any help with the school fees or the palace or the yacht or the servants or the security .... shall we just help out with the golden carriages then and call it quits?"

There are genuine reasons to criticise the royal establishment- this isn’t one.

Oh well do let me know what the reasons you think are ok are, then. As you're the arbiter of what is acceptable and what isn't 😂

I agree, Eton is not one. He is going to his local school with his mates from Lambrook. Big deal, not.
Booing at young children, really bad form.
Prince Andrew, shocking all round.

That about sums it up.

@Ukisgaslit In fact if you or they are genuinely concerned about children and young people you should be grateful to those willing to keep highlighting the Andrew / Epstein scandal .

This is true. I wish the young teenager George well. I am also aware that the RF is extremely wealthy - they were able to pay £12 million for what happened to another teenager when they were in London.

The taxpayer pays for many RF privileges - I think we should know the cost of the security. It is extremely concerning that Royal palaces and Royal staff were used to invite and entertain Epstein. The tax payer paid for that to be facilitated. He had already been convicted of child sex abuse.

Please, let's continue to ask questions ....

"Going to his local school" - amazing.

The OP started a thread about this and I've got sucked into it, but to be fair I would have if it was about their hats or their houses or their horses - I think it's all - to quote a wise woman - distasteful. I think it's distasteful we randomly picked one family generations ago to keep cossetted and coddled and allow to commit crimes and cover them up, and the whole thing is a ludicrous embarrassment from the small details to the larger ones.

Araminta1003 · Today 11:39
Start a petition for a referendum then and see where it gets you! Or stand as an MP with that as your sole cause

It would be interesting if there was a referendum. If it was say 55% keep and 45% remove, it would be just like brexit - we don’t like the result so we demand another referendum.

1p too much

LavenderSweetPea · 16/06/2026 17:59
Yeah go on then, he seems like a nice lad and it's less than a penny per tax payer.

you see here’s what I find the really curious thing. He may be a nice lad. Or he may not be. He may be a kind boy. Or he may not be. He may be clever. Or he may not be. He may relish the opportunity or might feel shackled, intimidated and anxious. But this is what you get when you have hereditary rights. This is why we don’t make the children of doctors doctors etc etc. Birth is no guarantee of aptitude or ability. Makes zero sense. It’s often presented as ‘what a trooper’, ‘poor him’, burden and duty yadda yadda but is this not just one element of why the system is anachronistic and needs to change?

Brexit probably only happened because it rained that day and not enough people bothered to show up to vote.

The Royal Family though - imagine they did a referendum right now. The sun is shining, Ascot, England won the football, there is Wimbledon and they are more popular than all political parties individually, The establishment would time it such to be in a good time and it would be a clear win. And all the pensioners would show up to vote for the children. The Republicans are on a complete hiding to nowhere with this one and there is no first past the post strategy to game.

https://natcen.ac.uk/news/public-support-monarchy-falls-historic-low-while-calls-abolition-start-rise

doesn’t disagree with the top line figures re: support however generational differences mean the direction of travel is away from support… I also noted in other tracking data that the two most popular members of the royal family are the late queen and Diana!

and @Araminta1003 really? You think Ascot does the royal family any favours? Dressed up in a carriage enjoying a flutter on the horses and a day of entertainment? It’s such a ‘let them eat cake’ moment. For me it epitomises the gulf and exemplifies why they need to go.

@Peacewillcome - if the Monarchy were no longer popular, rest assured a political party would have capitalised on that pronto and put it in their manifesto.

It says only 15% want an abolition, that is peanuts.
Just because the young currently feel different than 50 years ago, who knows how they will feel when they are older? In case you had not noticed, demographic changes are such that the old and middle aged are in charge because there are more of them! This is not going to change. Especially if a lot of young people are immigrants without a right to vote anyway.
This country is doomed for more small c ad infinitum due to an ageing population not less.
Also there are far more urgent and important causes than the monarchy.

The fact they have a dodgy uncle is not about them. It is a reflection on society as a whole, namely there are far too many sexual predators that walk amongst us. That recent case of a baby being abused yet again and attending A&E several times is far more of a concern to me personally than what the royals are up to. Or the Russian warships circulating on their days out.

yeah, the difference is, the abuser of that baby is going to prison. His family haven't paid anyone off or been able to bury the story for years. Yes, society is full of bad eggs - but when you have an unimaginably wealthy and powerful institution protecting them and enabling them, that's even worse.

Shocking that the protection and enabling is paid for by the tax payer. Why should the public be working so that abusers could be lavished and feted at royal palaces. Why did the tax payer pay for Sarah Ferguson to invite Epstein - she was no longer married to Andrew? Why did the Palace know about this for 6 years and it is only the recent exposure that has forced their hand to do anything?

The emails that show how palace aides brought Andrew and Fergie into Epstein's world

The kids at Harris Westminster have Saturday school. That is very heavily supported by Westminster School though.

The NHS Trust massively failed that baby. A powerful institution sucking up money with no accountability. That baby was a massive red flag presenting to A&E shortly after adoption. The parents and foster parents deserve compensation as a matter of principle from that trust.

Realistically, the Prince and Princess of Wales will have been given a shortlist (a very short one) of the schools which can manage their security requirements. The schools my children attend / have attended would not have been able to accommodate them. In fact, I would have been put off by hearing that the royal children would also be there.

The taxpayer doesn’t own Prince George - his parents can choose any school they want (and that he can get into). They have such a weird life, it will be good for the children to go to a school where they have some privacy.

@Araminta1003

1. I didn’t use the term ‘referendum’. I said we have never been asked. Let us be asked. Non binding . Every election cycle have the question on the ballot paper . I do not believe for a moment that the result would be the landslide you think. They were doing such surveys 100 years ago in the rest of Europe .
2. I’ve been on mumsnet long enough not to be shocked by much . But your crass dismissal of the Windsors cover up of decades of links to an international sex trafficker is deeply offensive . ‘Dodgy uncle’ . Epstein was first convicted of soliciting a minor in 2008. Educate yourself . Also Mountbatten and his abuse of children in care - are you aware of that ? Or is he just another ‘dodgy uncle’ to add to the Windsor collection. Sickening

@Ukisgaslit i don’t mind being asked, but I want a proper viable alternative. Not just off with their heads.

Remember Johnson’s face when Leave won the Brexit Referendum? That’s because they never expected it, and there was never a plan. And what a cock up that’s been. I don’t want that again for the U.K.

Every election cycle have the question on the ballot paper

Why just that question on the ballot paper? There are lots of other things people have strong opinions about.
Also, as far as I know on ballot papers in UK general elections the only question is put a cross by the politician of your choice
What’s wrong with a referendum?

@Recklessismymiddlename
@38thparallel

Nothing wrong with a referendum and nothing wrong with adding other non binding questions to a ballot paper . Lots of countries do this as a way of trying to improve the democratic voice

I don’t favour a referendum at the moment .
I favour reform as a first step .

Start with removing kings consent - that is a medieval nonsense and more importantly it is a slap in the face to our so called democracy.

Start with placing the Windsors under the law - all law - including tax law ( at the moment they can pick and choose which bits they’ll recognise )

Start with proper open scrutiny of their income streams from the tax payer . Detailed accounts - not the current situation where the Windsors decide what to declare and it is then rubber stamped ( this does not apply to the crown estate as far as I know as despite the deliberately confusing name is fully managed by an independent body )

Reveal the true costs including security .

Demographics will take care of the rest. Their real remaining support is women 65+
It’s literally dying off .

Why doesn’t the Labour Party put removal of the Royal Family in their 2029 manifesto?
Surely if they are so unpopular it would be a vote winner.

God no not reform. Farage. No. Traitor. Him
and Johnson. I knew Farage when I was younger. Nige. No thanks. And I won’t be commenting further. Just no. He’s still friends with people I knew. He hasn’t changed. Awful man.

@Ukisgaslit - that was rather rude. I am pretty well educated with a Cambridge degree and a postgrad too so I don’t think that is the issue. I am just not that interested in the royal family. Frankly, I find all those obsessed (whether positively or negatively) rather strange. Like I said there are so many more urgent issues to get on with. And as far as I can tell they are moving with the times. Charles also quite eco conscious etc whatever changes are made have to be in consultation with them directly. They aren’t slaves to the system and have free will too. They could just move country and take their assets like everyone else.

@38thparallel - it’s not a vote winner at all. Rather the opposite. Would translate to making a party complete taboo for a lot of voters.

@Ukisgaslit wrote ‘reform’ with a small
r and didn’t mean the party ‘Reform’