Could this be the end of the Royal family?

[BeijingBikini]

I don't mean if they die of the virus...

But there's nothing like a lockdown to really highlight inequality. I saw an article yesterday about Kate + William "isolating" at Anmer Hall, having done a photoshoot where they pretend to be on the telephone and writing ("working").

I think if people are going to have to spend months at home, in small flats with kids, still going out to work or trying to WFH, queueing for supermarkets with empty shelves......that could definitely breed some discontent. Or if people catch it and have to be treated in makeshift hospitals, not getting an ambulance until they're struggling to breathe, while the RF can be whisked away to a private hospital for treatment. I've already seen a lot of comments along the lines of "why don't they offer up their many palaces to be used as hospitals, rather than doing newspaper articles".

Opinions?

Thanks wolfgirl

Zilla1 yes I think you are right. If there is an emergency they would definitely be treated via nhs.

In fact, I do know somebody who treated a very famous celebrity in her hospital a few months ago. However, they certainly did not go through a&e but was immediately taken to their own room and treated instantly! No waiting around for them!

My point really being that there will always be people around that are richer than others but that doesn’t give us the right to slate them...

Genevieva, I know we could pick reasons for each country being more highly ranked though ...... Germany has more international tourists than the UK (am not locking Germany by the way but is it's geography demonstrably superior. If so, how few international tourists would the UK get when the Royals are away?). As Brooke says, it's not as if Buckingham Palace would be taken offshore (I'm not proposing 1789 or 1630, by the way).

@Wolfgirrl I don't think he has lectured us on this topic in a way that was preachy. It is OK to be interested in homelessness and shine a light on it without becoming intentionally homeless. Every country has rich people. We have plenty of very rich people who stay behind their high walls and only mix with other very rich people, never visit those less fortunate than themselves and never try to use their privileged position to help. He has a weird inherited job that gives him a public profile. Not one I would swap because I would loath any kind of fame. Given that backdrop, he has clearly tried to use his public profile for public good. Many people would do worse.

Kahlua, I agree with the no slating just because someone is rich - At the moment, I reserve my slating for the Government and PPE and no testing of frontline NHS. I remember someone famous who tried the 'don't you know who I am' who got short shrift here though haven't seen any of the Royals or Ministers.

Yeah. Let's just get rid of them. Then the masses can idolise the Kardashians and Donald Trump.

There are decent people around too who people look up to though, like the Obamas or Greta. The Royals could always play a massively scaled back charitable role which they could subsidise via the public property they already have.

Another troubling factor is Prince Andrew and how all of that has been handled. I don't think that's done them any favours, to say the least.

Zilla, I have never seen tourism as a cogent reason for continuing with a monarchy. It is an anachronistic system, but it seems to work for now and I think it will continue to work for the rest of my lifetime. If George becomes a self-indulgent playboy then he would undo the privilege of his birth very quickly.

it's not just about them being rich, it's the redundancy of the system, the hypocrisies of it all and the fact that they pretend having a role and "representing" us whilst benefiting from tax payer funds.

What they want is keep their current fortune and stop their official "engagements".
What we want is to get back all the state properties, lands, and funds and treat them as the average citizen they are. They do have some private fortune, but everything else needs to go back to the state.

At least something positive will come out of this crisis if we get rid of them. (as in title, privileges, and drain on the economy).

They went before the lock down and I see it as even the royals are doing what work they can.

So much sneering and thinking they are cool when the comments are old, boring and make you sound jealous.

Don't bother denying it. I don't care.

Let's just get rid of them. Then the masses can idolise the Kardashians

interesting that you put them all in the same category.

it's nice to see some pictures of them as a bit of light relief. Kate is lovely, the kids are cute, I like the beautiful gardens and palaces, they are part of our history and cultural identity.
You would still be able to look at pics of them even if we got rid of royalty, they wouldn't cease to exist, they'd go on living their lives and doing regular photoshoots. But it would save the taxpayer a nice lot of money.
Tourists don't come to the UK for the royal family because they don't get to see them or the insides of their palaces anyway. Being able to see a royal Palace from the inside would attract many more tourists - just think of Versailles etc.
I hope we will get rid of royalty soon, it's such an anachronism. But it's not going to happen anytime soon, sadly, because so many people are brainwashed into thinking there is a point to it.

SunshineCake
not accepting to be a sheep and demanding at least a referendum to chose who is head of state is not just about being jealous, but whatever is easier for you to understand....

Nicolas Witchell, BBC Royal Correspondent, reported Charles travelled already with mild symptoms. Nice, eh? And was able to get NHS testing straight away. Funny that.

If they waant to make a gesture, let the spare dwellings they have be used for NHS purposes.

The British are among the biggest group to visit France, but it has much better weather than us - reliable summers, reliable skiing... Italy is the home of the Roman Empire and the Renaissance, as well as having fabulous coastline, islands and skiing. We can never match them for geography.

Ok well let's do a little case study @Genevieva

Let's ring fence the capitals of each and see how many tourists visit them. Paris has overtaken London:

www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/london-paris-visitors-tourism-brexit-global-cities-index-a9091791.html

Give its location it is unlikely these tourists were stopping by before going skiing or to the beach.

However if you do try and argue that point, you could also argue some of our tourists go to London before heading on to Cornwall, etc.

demanding at least a referendum to chose who is head of state

Of course, because the last one went so well ...

@Genevieva

It is OK to be interested in homelessness and shine a light on it without becoming intentionally homeless. Every country has rich people

But those people dont live off of 60 million pounds of taxpayers money a year

It is in no way comparable.

How passionate about homelessness can you be with empty palaces lying around?

@Alsohuman Brexit is a different issue.

Do you feel Irelands latest referendum shouldn't have happened? Because you know, referendums never go very well?

How passionate about homelessness can you be with empty palaces lying around?

Yup. And how much can you really care about climate change when you are constantly flying around the world in a private jet? One rule for them...

The royals could be caught on camera kicking a dog in the face and the royalists would say 'but they raise awareness of animal charities'

@Wolfgirrl I don't know what you think I was arguing because your reply doesn't engage with what I said at all. I never once mentioned London. But, seeing has you have mentioned Paris my thoughts are:

• I love London. I lived there in my mid 20s. I used to spend weekends cycling around and looking for remnants of Pepys' London and other iconic literary locations. But if I was from neither Britain nor France, I would visit Paris. The Seine, the Louvre, the Musée d'Orsay (possibly my favourite gallery in the world), the Rodin museum... Paris has romantic associations that London will never have.

Re. the topic of homelessness, your comment about the sovereign grant is irrelevant. The Cambridges aren't direct beneficiaries of it anyway. Anmer Hall is on the privately owned Sandringham estate and apart from his inherited wealth his expenses are funded by Prince Charles. It is really important to be able to separate logical arguments from bitterness and envy. The reality is that unravelling the system would be a massively expensive task. There will always be rich people and it will always be possible to be jealous of them. Getting rid of the monarch won't change that and I don't think the coronavirus pandemic is going to destabilise the monarchy.

Tourists don't come to the UK for the royal family because they don't get to see them or the insides of their palaces anyway. Being able to see a royal Palace from the inside would attract many more tourists - just think of Versailles etc.

I would bet a whole pound that tourism increased a fair bit after watching M&H get married at Windsor, it looked completely stunning. Having a living Royal Family brings it all to the fore more often.

Look, I'm not really a massive Royalist really and find Andrew deplorable but I do think they bring a lot of cheer to lots of people and god help us any port in a storm right now.

Please no referendum to choose the Head of State. We'd end up with Ant and Dec.

A lot of people have mentioned pointless celebs/rich CEOs being just as annoying. The difference being you don't have to pay attention to the celeb, or you can boycott the company of the rich CEO if you don't like them. If enough people unfollowed Kim Kardashian or stopped using Amazon then Kim K would be just another woman, and Jeff Bezos wouldn't be a billionaire. With the Royal Family atm we have no choice, whether we like them or not we have to fund them and see their faces in the paper.

@Genevieva apologies if I got the wrong end of the stick but I thought you were making the point that Republic France only has more tourism as it has better scenery,skiing etc. So I compared the tourism exclusively between London and Paris (which as you know is not close to the beach and has no skiing) for a more accurate view of which is the most popular. Paris wins.

I am not at all jealous of rich people. I'm very happy with my life I admire anybody that has worked for their money. but the Royals havent. They take ours. I dont know what part of this royalists just cannot seem to understand.

As for Anmer Hall, the sovereign grant paid for its refurbishment along with Frogmore cottage, both to the tune of millions of pounds.

Bitterness and envy 😂😂😂 are real arguments running thin at your end?

@Welcometothequiz

Yes I bet H&M legging it provided a great advert of how wonderful the UK is.