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The royal family

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Original poster

To wish all the royal family would become private citizens?

145 replies

Snog · 12/01/2020 10:50

I wish they would all stand down
I'm sick of the virtue signalling, wealth hoarding and hypocrisy while there is so much poverty deprivation and homelessness in the UK with the NHS, mental healthcare and social care in semi collapse.

I don't want a royal family for the UK. I used to but I have really changed my mind.

Nobody visits the UK to see the royal family fgs. And if people will only donate to charities if a royal is a patron they they need a slap.

OP posts:
Graphista · 12/01/2020 11:16

Yanbu but don your hard hat lots of royalists on mn.

At the very least they should downsize massively. It IS obscene holding on to all the palaces and opulence when so many are really struggling.

araiwa · 12/01/2020 11:32

This is new and original information

Thanks

TheMemoryLingers · 12/01/2020 11:34

YANBU.

Wishforsnow · 12/01/2020 11:34

Yanbu

PositiveVibez · 12/01/2020 11:36

Tanvi OP. Totally agree.

JonSlow · 12/01/2020 11:36

Nobody visits the UK to see the royal family fgs.

Have you missed the queues of people at Buckingham Palace; the boosts that Royal Weddings give etc? They are normally the #1 on tourists “what do you want to see in England”.

eavers · 12/01/2020 11:37

Yanbu

JanesKettle · 12/01/2020 11:38

YANBU

I used to be a republican (AU), then I became resigned to constitutional monarchy...H & M nonsense have fired me up on the republicanism again. Get rid of the lot (wait for Liz to die though, a bit rude to get rid when she's 90+).

TheMemoryLingers · 12/01/2020 11:38

Have you missed the queues of people at Buckingham Palace;

They're looking at the palace, not the queen. The queen won't even be in there most of the time.

Charlottejbt · 12/01/2020 11:39

YANBU. We can figure out the way to keep the pageantry (if that's what people want) and get rid of the overpaid throne fillers.

joystir59 · 12/01/2020 11:40

I think this will happen when the queen dies. She is the last true royal. Prince Charles is not respected by the general public and will not be a popular king, and I think the writing is really on the wall for the institution 'royal family' as they increasingly behave as badly as every one else and we really won't tolerate them lording it over us any more

FramingDevice · 12/01/2020 11:43

I’m more in favour of the guillotine. Which didn’t hurt tourist numbers at Versailles.

FreedomfromPE · 12/01/2020 11:45

They don't bring in the tourists do they? You can't book tea with them like some attraction. The spectacle of these strange creatures out of step with modern life, living off the state whilst amassing unseemly personal wealth whilst food banks multiply under their so called leadership. Vile. Embarrassing for the UK.

LaurieMarlow · 12/01/2020 11:45

They are normally the #1 on tourists “what do you want to see in England”.

A) no they’re not
B) then don’t get to see them anyway (how dumb do you have to be to think you’d catch a glimpse of a royal)
C) the royal palaces aren’t even as popular as you’d think
D) Versailles has far higher visitor numbers anyway, suggesting the French have the right idea.

GCAcademic · 12/01/2020 11:49

Have you missed the queues of people at Buckingham Palace; the boosts that Royal Weddings give etc? They are normally the #1 on tourists “what do you want to see in England”.

Have you been to Versailles? Significantly more tourists than any royal building in this country. Buckingham Palace can't be visited for most of the year, because the pesky Queen insists on using it.

CommercialKitty · 12/01/2020 11:50

I get the feeling William and Kate would LOVE to be private citizens. If someone told them they had to step back and not be senior royals any more they would high five and disappear from public life. They would manage with his private fortune to be rich and have no pap stresses. They would not be hankering to commercialise their status. Harry and Meghan can live off his £30m but she wants more money and fame than he can provide for her. She can’t be President Markle without a speaking platform and he has been a stepping stone but she has to move on up now, with or without him.

2020BetterBeBetter · 12/01/2020 11:50

Private citizens yes, but not if they are going to insist on keeping titles, income, property, tax payers’ money etc.

Mominatrix · 12/01/2020 11:53

You are naive. Do you know the level of obsession that North America, US in particular, has will the Royal Family despite fighting two wars to free themselves of them? The number of articles which the big papers have on this current topic is yawn inducing. If they don't exist as an institution, another one will take their place. We all have a need for bread and circuses and an ongoing soap opera to follow.

FramingDevice · 12/01/2020 11:57

@Mominatrix, I’m not sure people should want to retain a monarchy because some citizens of the Land of the Free like royal gossip.

AllergicToAMop · 12/01/2020 11:58

We all know who the president would be...
I prefer royalty...

Original poster
Snog · 12/01/2020 12:00

How many tourists ever see the royal family? As per PP it's the buildings that they see, the family are not on show to tourists. People still want to visit the Palace at Versailles even though there is no French King or Queen and people would still want to visit the castles and palaces of the UK.

As for the "royal wedding boost", what kind of a boost is that exactly? Does that help the homeless or people who are in need? Should we keep the royal family because a few individuals can benefit from selling commemorative mugs and tea towels every few years?

OP posts:
CreekIsRising · 12/01/2020 12:02

Yanbu. Like a pp I've mostly reconciled to this particular Queen as a head of state because I think that she's done a cracking job. The rest of them are a fucking shambles though - drunk, idle, philandering, lying, abusing teenage girls etc while amassing huge wealth from their status.

I'm sure there will be people popping up to tell us that they "only cost us £1 a year each" which, yes, is true in terms of how much we shell out on the sovereign grant. However, by allowing them to retain their position we as a country have also allowed them all to build up personal fortunes through various other protected interests and so while it doesn't cost us they damn well owe us their status. Have they acted in a way that merits that? Has Prince Andrew? Has Prince Charles? I honestly don't think so.

newyearnewear · 12/01/2020 12:02

YANBU
The royal family is irrelevant in modern society and no one should be born into a role. We can retain the pageantry and the history without needing the people. The Queen has done an amazing job but it should end with her for everyone's sake.

MsPepperPotts · 12/01/2020 12:02

YANBU

Deckthehallswithlotsofcake · 12/01/2020 12:26

Youn don't need a president just because you don't have a royal family. You could let hundreds of other people do their chores. Spread the glory and honour around a little. When you open a bridge it could be the oldest villagers in the nearby town who did the honours. When you open a university it could be a famous professor. They don't actually do anything that other people could not do. It is not like Britain gained anything by letting Donald Trump meet the royal family. Especially not as a couple of them managed to insult him.