If I remember correctly @Puzzledandpissedoff he talked about 'slimming down' about 15 years ago? He was full of it. Now there's lots of reports from the Autumn that he has now ditched the idea ... when was it the Queen died again? Remind me lol
It seemed like a good idea no doubt when he was the heir. Now he is Big Cheese it's not so appealing.
It has naturally slimmed somewhat, so same amount of money... just to less Royals!
Norman Baker, you just gotta love him... this is what he wrote in an article about the slimming down after the Queen died.
“What slimmed down is not, is having five people on the balcony. It’s making the monarchy modern and accountable — something much closer to the Benelux or Scandinavian models,” he said, noting that other surviving European monarchies manage on a fraction of the budget afforded to the Windsors and can be seen riding bicycles and going to supermarkets.
In the UK, this would mean reducing the number of royals to protect and palaces to maintain, and discontinuing the more anachronistic privileges and entitlements afforded them, he said.
These include such perks as the exemption from inheritance tax that King Charles will shortly enjoy, breaks on corporation tax afforded to the private royal estates of the Duchy of Cornwall and Lancaster, and the secrecy with which the monarchy is allowed to conduct some of its affairs.
“The main problem underpinning everything is freedom of information. The monarchy should be subject to the same rules as other parts of the public sector. They are public servants with public money and should be subject to the same public accountability,”