Sometimes i really shake my head with disbelief at some of the blinkered/ignorant views here.
I'm no royalist but it's obvious to me that the wedding was a great boost for the UK. Firstly outside of our country, our royal family is much loved. No idea why but the Japanese, American's and many other nations lap it all up and coming over to the UK to see a real queen in a real palace seems to be something they like to do.
So the fact that our heir to the throne was getting married filled up our hotels and thousands of plane tickets were sold on the back of it. Now once all these tourists arrived, presumably they eat, visit other places and generally spend hard cash in good old UK.
On top of all this, all that crap memorabilia which filled our shelves I assume were bought by some people.
And of course don't forget all the overtime all the security, police etc. all got paid. All I assume spent in the UK boosting the economy again.
In fact I remember reading at the time the net effect on the economy was expected to be positive to the tune of nearly £600 million. I know at the time some people moaned about the cost of security which was a few million (I forget how much exactly now) but that seems a pretty sweet deal to me.
Oh and don't forget this showcases the UK internationally in a positive light.
Compare this to tomorrow's strikes. Twelve hour queues predicted at Heathrow. Schools on strike. Many parents forced to take a day off to look after their kids. Extra costs on childcare. It doesn't show us as a country you'd want to come & visit does it? All that lost pay, all the inconvenience. That's a cost to our economy. I doubt it will really cost the £500 million quoted but it will be a fair bit.