To wish all the royal family would become private citizens?

[Snog]

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.

[TeacupDrama]

I'm sure they would have enough houses with their private properties, Sandringham, Balmoral, Castle of Mey, Anmer house, Highgrove, Gatcombe Birkhall and some other small places
present incumbents ( those with flats in Kensington Palace) can stay in whatever house they are living in for life time (except younger Royals like Princess Beatrice and Eugenie who can get their own houses now married) then revert to state
ie Buckingham Palace Windsor and Holyroodhouse can still be used for state occasions with or without a monarchy and as museums/ art galleries the rest of the time
After present incumbents no longer with us Clarence house, Kensington Palace St James Palace and Bagshot park can be sold etc
Even if we stick with monarchy it only needs to be direct line and when older Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis should be encouraged to make own way in life

[LaurieMarlow]

The Sovereign Grant isn't where most of their money comes from.

Erm, say what now?

It’s worth about 80 million,

[Onceuponatimethen]

Yanbu

[PlanDeRaccordement]

I disagree.
As for wealth hoarding they give way more than private citizen rich do. What has Sir Branson done with his Virgin empire? Oh yes, he’s planning a hotel on Mars for his billionaire friends to party in.

You make them private citizens and a hell of a lot LESS will be done towards charitable works and good causes. For example Prince Charles started the organic food movement in the U.K. as well as conservation efforts that have preserved the coastlines from development.
RSPB
RSPCA
RSPCC
That RS stands for Royal Society- started by, run for free by, and funded by royals.

[LaurieMarlow]

As for wealth hoarding they give way more than private citizen rich do

You don’t have a clue what rich people give to charity, it’s not public record.

[Leaannb]

@LaurieMedlow but they don't get free useage of that money. The Sovereign Grant is only used for official duties and Castle upkeep that doesn't belong to the family. 25 million of it was straight for Reno's at Buckingham Palace. Most of the Palaces including Buckingham and Kensington are owned by the state. The Sovereign Grant would still go these places with or without a Royal family. Same with the money paying for the duties of the Head of State. It will still happen

[LaurieMarlow]

The Sovereign Grant would still go these places with or without a Royal family.

A) there’s nothing stated in law to say that. Correct me if I’m wrong

B) it doesn’t take 80 million a year to upkeep the royal palaces. They could be earning far more in tourism income anyway, without the royals.

[PlanDeRaccordement]

You don’t have a clue what rich people give to charity, it’s not public record

Its on their tax returns. And the statistics are reported every year by HMRC:
60% of people earning more than £250,000 in the 2016-17 tax year did no charitable donations at all. Of the 40% who did, the median amount donated was £1,000. The median level of giving among the ultra-rich (£10m+) was even lower at just £240 a year.

[Verily1]

Yes!

I used to not mind them now I’m a full republican

[PlanDeRaccordement]

See Table 6
assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/811744/Table_6.pdf

[heath48]

I have always been a Royalist,I remember the Coronation.

I am now in favour of getting rid of the Monarchy....,when the Queen dies.

Way to many things have happened now to justify supporting them.

I am 71 and most of my friends agree,sad really.

[CreekIsRising]

Well if they're really so keen on giving their money away let's help them out with that. Win-win.

[AvaSnowdrop]

I have great respect for the Queen but Charles is unworthy of being king. The only way is for him to decline the crown and pass it straight to William who is well liked, so his family of five could be The Royal Family and all the rest (PH and MM, the Yorks, etc) become private citizens without titles and are never seen again.

[Ali86]

RSPB
RSPCA
RSPCC
That RS stands for Royal Society- started by, run for free by, and funded by royals.

That is complete nonsense. They were all set up by campaigners long before they were granted royal status (as shown by the fact that it is not the RSPCC but the NSPCC as it was very well established long before the royals were involved). They don't run or fund the charities concerned.

[katy1213]

I do hope they strip them of titles/security/tax breaks/Frogmore/every other royal perk and see how long they'll last on their own two feet. As the royal gloss wears off and they're just a retired soap actress and an entitled not-so-young twat with no qualifications. Their only currency is their royal status. They're comparing their earning potential to the Obamas' ... yes, world leader v minor army officer! Two years down the road, will Meghan even qualify to be flicking her hair on a shampoo advert because 'I'm woyth it"? Hope Harry has budgeted for years of alimony out of his £30m and for seeing precious little of Archie - whom Meghan has cleverly removed from UK jurisdiction already. You'd almost feel sorry for him. Let's hope that William is more forgiving when he wants to slinks back than the Queen's father was of his own dodgy brother. But I wouldn't count on it.

[noodlenosefraggle]

ridiculous argument disproven by the queen herself in recent months when she’s done sod all about the abysmal handling of Brexitx
She can do nothing because shes unelected. It would be completely outrageous to have an old lady who had minimal education and has spent her life having a servant carry around her personal toilet seat deciding Parliamentary and constitutional matters. It's not her fault she was completely useless. The monarchy is completely useless as an institution. If we had a Head of State like Ireland maybe they could have mediated or done something. The monarch cant.

[Leaannb]

@LaurieLedlow your right. It's costing out guys 25 million a year until 2027 for Buckingham alone. All 80 million is not just for upkeep. It's also part of their Head of State hosting fund. Do you really think Trump or Germany's Chancellor is going to be happy being welcomed by the oldest person living I London?

[SuperMeerkat]

‘They only cost us £1 a year’

Well what if I don’t want to pay £1 a year. I bet if they personally asked every adult to pay (‘pay £1 so someone else can be a millionaire’) then that Sovereign fund would shrink!

It’s definitely time for a slimmed down Royal Family, has been for years.

[LaurieMarlow]

It's also part of their Head of State hosting fund.

You don’t need 80 million for that either.

The Irish presidency costs a fraction of the royals. It would be very easy to have a cost effective alternative.

[MrOnionsBumperRoller]

YANBU Op.

[Babybel90]

I never get why the Queen gets so much respect and people think she does a great job? She doesn’t do anything, she doesn’t say anything, she doesn’t intervene to make things better for any of her subjects.

The only time we hear her voice is at the state opening of parliament when she’s reading someone else’s words or her Christmas message, which again is probably written for her.

I’d much prefer a president who could actually represent the people and who could be voted out.

Let’s face it if any of the current Royal family has been born as private citizens they’d hardly be setting the world on fire, would they?

[Mominatrix]

Nobody in the UK "pays" for the royal family.

"Over time, more and more income from Crown lands was handed over to government, and as such the Sovereign was directly responsible for less and less government expense.

The profits of the Crown Estate are public money and all go to the Treasury. This is then collected together with the income the Treasury gets from general taxation and other sources, into one pot: the “Consolidated Fund”. We’ll refer to this pot as “public money”; most of it comes from general taxation, but some of it is from non-tax sources (such as the Crown Estate profits).

The Treasury then pays the Sovereign Grant to the Queen, which is currently calculated as the equivalent of 25% of the Crown Estate’s profits two years previously. The amount of the grant isn’t determined by how much the royal family plans to spend." (source: Full Fact)

According to Wiki, "Historically, Crown Estate properties were administered by the reigning monarch to help fund the business of governing the country. However, in 1760, George III surrendered control over the Estate's revenues to the Treasury,[5] thus relieving him of the responsibility of paying for the costs of the civil service, defence costs, the national debt, and his own personal debts. In return, he received an annual grant known as the Civil List. By tradition, each subsequent monarch agreed to this arrangement upon his or her accession. However, from 1 April 2012, under the terms of the Sovereign Grant Act 2011 (SSG), the Civil List was abolished and the monarch was thenceforth provided with a stable source of revenue indexed to a percentage of the Crown Estate's annual net revenue (currently set at 25%).[16] This was intended to provide a long-term solution and remove the politically sensitive issue of Parliament having to debate the Civil List allowance every ten years. Subsequently, the Sovereign Grant Act allows for all future monarchs to simply extend these provisions for their reigns by Order in Council.[3] The act does not imply any legal change in the nature of the estate's ownership, but is simply a benchmark by which the sovereign grant is set as a grant by Parliament."

So the contract handing over the profits of the Crown Estate need to be renewed upon the accession of each monarch. If Charles decides to not do this (won't happen, but just what ifs), he can because it goes back to his ownership.

[BubblesBuddy]

There are some very interesting articles about the monarchy and wealth today in The Sunday Times. The Duchy of Cornwall is worth about £1bn. The Royal family don’t pay inheritance tax, capital gains tax and have been exempt from income tax. This allows vast wealth to be built up. The Princes directly benefit from this as Charles gives them most of their money.

There is also another article saying how little the really wealthy in The UK give to charity. Way below the giving levels in the USA. It is quantified because they get tax relief on gifts. They are seriously mean!

All the Royal family do is promote other people’s charities and get money out of people for their own. They don’t give much other than time. Now M&H don’t even want to do that!

[Leaannb]

@BubblesBuddy.....Prince Charles and the Queen both pay income tax

[Mummyshark2019]

Yanbu. We would be better off without them. What value to our lives to they bring?