The Security Bill for Princess Eugenie’s Wedding is £2 million

[Butteredparsn1ps]

And it is coming out of the public purse.

Excellent opinion piece by Libby Purves in today’s Times pointing out that this extravaganza will have an impact on real people and actual crime.

Does the silly Bridezilla really think her Wedding is as interesting as Meghan and Harry’s? If she wants to copy their Wedding, she needs to pay for it.

Our royal family is a massive fucking goose laying endless golden eggs along with plenty of the shit.

Lots of people can’t be arsed to see that (or are just naturally resentful) and would rather kill the goose.

Long carriage processions are what the royals are about. I don’t care about those, but I do like the idea that they result in more influence over despots. Strange,but that’s just how it works.

We have an actual cast of people the world is interested in. (Not MN obviously, who are above such things). It is very, very valuable - not just to is but to broader foreign influence. Including things like women’s rights.

The "world" is interested in the queen and the two glamour couples. Beatrice and Eugenie? Not so much. They don't even carry out any royal duties.

They are symbolic of society’s ills.

The rich squander the poor starve.

Roll on us learning from the French!

I haven't met or talked a single person who is interested in either of those girls or even Andrew.

Doesn't the cost of the security for the royals far exceed the amount we are told they get via the Sovereign Grant? So they 5p per person figure that's often trotted out isn't actually true.

Am I missing something or did that soft power report on the U.K not even mention the royals?

I suspect the only people lining the route will be people protesting about the cost of the whole "jolly".

I totally get that pomp and ceremony sells and helps the brand globally, but I don't think the argument holds as much weight right now. We've just had a massive royal wedding five months before this one, and we've recently seen the birth of Prince Louis and lots of activity around Prince George and Princess Charlotte- Meghan's Da aside, the RF are doing alright PR wise right now. I don't think a £2 million carriage ride will add any more value than a few group shots and news footage of the bridal party around the chapel would.

The reality is for Beatrice and Eugenie that they will become more and more irrelevant as years go on, especially when Prince Harry and Meghan start having babies and as the Cambridges' offspring grow up. Better to act accordingly rather than cling to the Princess status, appearing entitled and a bit sad when people just aren't as interested as when your cousin did it.

Buttered

‘There is just no need for that level of extravagance’

This in a nutshell

An interesting point raised here about how some past princesses gave up their title upon marriage.
twitter.com/MajestyMagazine/status/1031857169765941248

Comparably, I do find it interesting that people do get angry about the cost of security bills for royal weddings, but not the £6.7 million that policing football matches in London costs...

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-40768771

Very fair point Hodge. But don't the clubs have to pay for the Police?

You must be joking TheHodgeofthehedge Firstly, the clubs contribute to the costs. Secondly, football isn’t enjoyed by millions of ordinary people. You can’t compare the pleasure millions of ordinary people get compared to a pair of overindulged royals.

As pp's have said, it very much smacks of Andrew.

I believe he's the Queens favourite and rather indulged as a result.

It's telling that he's the only child who insisted on royal status for his children - obviously excluding Charles but given the succession then that's understandable.

Andrew apparently had a super strop when "free" royal protection was withdrawn from his daughters a few years ago.

To be a bit fair Andrews home is Royal Lodge (where the Queen Mother used to live) on the Windsor estate - so you could argue they are using the "local" church venue.

However I think the carriage ride and procession is totally OTT.

The Queen and senior royals have attended family weddings (the Tindalls is a good example) and the security will have been there but far from excessive - so it would have been feasible to do a low key wedding at Windsor if they'd wanted - but they didn't.

It's just inappropriate showboating and frankly I hope hardly anyone shows up to watch to prove that the public really isn't buying this "Princess" crap.

By the way does anyone know why Edward is a Count and Andrew/William/Harry Duke's?

What Craicdealer said.

I have no particular views on the royal family. I’m not even British.

The carriage ride seems a bit odd though.

I guess either it’s pumped up vanity, they think it’s what the public wants and this will increase their appeal or they believe there is some value add. Who knows.

Someone in tune with ‘Austerity Britain’ should think twice about having something like that which is not strictly necessary and at substantial cost to the tax payer. For those interested and for the purposes of soft power presumably photos from the wedding itself would be sufficient?

Actually the BBC article says:
The force only recovered £361,000 from London football clubs
So, no, they don't really contribute towards the costs other than paying taxes of course.

And I'm not saying the Royal bill is ok at all... just trying to add to the discussion with another example of huge security bills and I find it interesting that no one seems to get upset about one, but hugely so about the other. Not defending it, just putting it out there for conversation.

@WomblingWoman I think it was part of a drive to downsize the royal family a bit, hence why his kids don't have the titles of Prince and Princess. Apparently he'll become Duke of Edinburgh when Prince P pops clogs but whether that means Louise and James get a title upgrade is unclear. Technically the DoE title goes to Charles as he's the oldest but I think there's an understanding that he'll pass it to his youngest brother. Also, as Edward has a son, it means the title will last more than one generation,

Thank you!

Edward's children are entitled to use the titles Prince and Princess, but he and Sophie didn't want them to have that burden - pretty sensible really. Hard to imagine Fergie and Andrew being sensible.

The royal family cost us £100 million in security every year. 21 of them have 5 highly trained police officers each, guarding them round the clock. How the hell can that be right.

The football clubs contributed a third of a million quid. How much will Andrew contribute to the police when his daughter marries?

Really surprised at that - who are the 21 pasttimes?

Would the 21 be all the Queen's descendants except Peter and Zara? I've not added them up though.

Not sure how accurate this is but bloody hell.
www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/100million-to-guard-21-royals-around-234485