Rule Britannia! The Queen owns the seabed.

[grannieonabike]

Heard this on the news. She'll get all the profits from offshore wind farms, I believe. Made me wonder what else she owns.

March on the Palace anyone?

I don't have a problem with monarchy per se (power becomes hereditary pretty quickly anyway, even if it started off democratic - eg Megawati Sukarnoputri, Gloria Arroyo, and of course the Georges Bush).

What I do object to is the absolutely mind-melting personal wealth of the Queen.

I think that morally, it is national wealth accrued with national armies, not personal wealth, and I think it is absolutely vile that she is sitting on Leonardos, hundreds of millions of pounds of jewellery, vast parcels of land, the seabed (!) while her fellow countrymen are hyperventilating about what's going to happen to them when they lose the 20 quid a week or whatever child benefit is.

Bicycle monarchies are not a bad concept at all.

The Crown Estates put millions/billions into the Exchequer each year of which HM gets a small part back.

I am a monarchist too, and would not like to see the Queen replaced by a President of any kind. The monarchy is a huge draw for tourism; they do stacks for charity; those in HM Forces hold their commissions straight from her, so it is for Queen and country; as others have said she provides an overview like no other of procedure and trends in events; when the Royal Yacht was around the trade brought in after invites to dinners, cocktail parties etc on the yacht was immense. I think someone ought to quantify the money she brings into the country.

Two out of her three sons have been in HM Forces, one fighting in the Falklands; and two of her grandchildren are also in, one having fought in Afghanistan, so they do 'proper' jobs, and I don't think doing Search and Rescue is a cinch either. Presumably those of you who are anti would refuse to be rescued by a helicopter piloted by Prince William as it would be against your republican principles?

Three more scary words and a reason to keep the monarchy: President Peter Madelson.

Ok, leaving aside Crown Estates, which she now gets an income from, there is her vast personal collections of art, antiques, jewellery.

I've actually just watched an old Antiques Roadshow. A man brought in bits of a dinner service that had been huge when it was made, but since split up. The expert said that most of it was now owned by the Queen, and then started valuing it - plate GBP10,000, fruit bowl 15,000, trembleuse 15,000.

I think it is beyond immoral that she could sell a fucking soup bowl and pay for respite care for the poor woman on another thread who has lost it with her autistic son and shouted that she hates him, because her anti-depressants aren't working anymore.

It's not a vast personal collection in the sense that she could flog the 'fucking soup bowl' on E-Bay for her own gain... any more than we could sell off the contents of the British Museum or the National Portrait Gallery.

It's upsetting if someone is at the end of their tether looking after a disabled child but that sounds like the local care systems & broader society are failing that family rather than it being purely a money matter.

Scaryteacher, please can you quantify the "immense" trade attracted by the existence of the royal yacht, balanced by its running costs the expense of holding these parties?

Yes, they do a little for a few charites - they couldn't be seen to be living a hedonistic lifestyle the whole time, could they - but making speeches (written by their staff) and opening mini curtains to reveal plaques is not a bloody job!

There's quite an important distinction between what belongs to Liz-the-person and what belongs to Liz-the-wearer-of-the-Crown. She personally can't got selling stuff off as she personally doesn't own that much of it.

It would be interesting to see what she can leave as personal bequests in her will.

'As well as hosting royal banquets and receptions, Britannia was an ambassador for British business, promoting trade and industry around the globe. Indeed the Overseas Trade Board estimates that £3 billion has been made for the Exchequer as a result of commercial days on Britannia between 1991 and 1995.'

See above. I think the 3 or 4 engagements the Queen does per day (given her age) is good going.

"How come we cant see it?"

Windsor Castle? Buckingham Palace? Hampton Court? Crown Jewels?... Not every artefact is out on display 100% of the time but anyone with a valid ticket is entitled to have a look.

THE. I have nothing in common with any other poster and that includes mycounty. I'm not PC at all, and she/he probably is! If you've read my posts I don't give a shite! I've nothing in common with you either (hopefully)

I beleive in 'free speech' unlike the PC versions on many of these threads. Where people are hunted relentlessly for having other opinions that are not in keeping with others views.

No I believe in total free speech, so if you have any juicy retort bring it on!

I just love a good rumble, don't you?

Arf at that being a rumble

You can see the outside of Windsor Castle or Buck House for free if you're in the area :) Practially speaking, if they dropped admission charges for UK residents then the Exchequer would be down a fair few million and we'd still be paying out for storage, security and conservation work. In the meantime, there are some very good websites if you want to see what you're missing....

BTW... anyone remember seeing the documentary of the Queen's visit to the USA a few years ago? For a nation that was really pleased to see the back of the British monarchy they rolled out wall-to-wall obsequiousness much better than anything I'd ever seen before or since!

THE. do excuse my ignorance what's an ARF?
If it a guffaw or something like that. Anways back to the Queen, the last time this country got rid of the Monarchy, Oliver Cromwell killed over 30 thousand Irish, sent 55.000 to Barbados as slaves and 2000 Irish boys and girls to Jaimaca as slaves, perhaps being half Irish is why I'm so fond of our dear old Queen!

@complimentary... I think, if you're claiming your royalist leanings on being half-Irish or that slavery and persecution only happen under a republican system you should check that your skates have water-wings.... you're on extremely thin ice.

I told you you were my new favourite poster, complimentary

Chili. I was talking about Cromwells persecution of the Irish. I'm aware of other genocides.

Even if Cromwell had not slaughtered us in the tens of thousands I would still be a Monarchist. I feel the Queen stands for much of what this country has lost.

But being a monarchist because you have Irish roots?.... I know the Orangemen are a little obsessed with all things royal but they're hardly typical.

I find it staggering, absolutely staggering, that in the 21st century anyone can defend the hereditary principle .

And as others have pointed out, President Blair, President Mandelson, President Branson, et al could all be voted out if we didn't like them.

That's kind of the point of a democracy.

THE. Unfortunately for you, you're not mine, but then hey, ho, we can't all be popular. .

Chili. I didn't say that 'persecution only happens under a republican system'.

Chili. Orangemen? how dare you! My father was Irish, from the the Republic of Ireland! and a Catholic! We have not much in common with Orangemen, apart from living in the same country!

The hereditary principle is not fair or democratic but simply a traditional & historical way of appointing a head of state. Unlike an elected President, our Queen has zero power whatsoever. So it almost doesn't matter who does the job or what their opinions are, because they can't make any material difference to the day-to-day running of the country or anyone's lives as a result. Elect a President and they'd actually want to do something... change things. We've got a PM for that.

The privilege, the wealth and the lavish lifestyle come at a price, I'd suggest. They're not free to act as they wish.. everything's done by restrictive protocol from birth to death. Some of them turn to drink, go nuts, get divorced... the Queen must be made of stern stuff to survive it this long.

Tell a lie, we don't now live in the same country as Northern Ireland is now part of Great Britain.