The Royals are on the Brink of Collapse - SHOCKING REPORT !

[vera99]

As the late Queen said 'apres moi le deluge' and here we are 3 weeks away from a coronation in which only 9% of the population are highly interested.

Indeed 😂

@Foreversearch lets have the bun fight once and for all then. If the royals then want to avoid tax, and get egg on their faces if their schemes really stink, then fine. What’s so wrong is that they just aren’t expected to pay! And that they have this outrageous inherited state derived wealth. Bring on the bun fight!

It's clickbait sadly. If only it were true!

@undergroundstation go ahead have the bun fight. It’s laughable you think they wouldn’t have the best advice on investments, yes they can go wrong but it’s highly unlikely they would mess up spectacularly.

Also there would be nothing stopping them earning a living including monetising/commercialising their name and family history.

I can guarantee no matter what the deal, unless they are living in a bog standard 3 bed semi earning less than average you won’t be happy.

And as the Guardian points out they seem to have nicked quite a lot of stuff that belongs to the state and incorporated it into their private wealth. It's called theft and people go to prison for it.

5 bedroom in an acre of grounds on St George's Hill / Virginia Water - I'll laccept that !

Charles can live at Highgrove and Camilla at her house. William and Kate can have Frogmore Cottage. The rest can find their own accommodation.

they can go wrong but it’s highly unlikely they would mess up spectacularly

The Paradise Papers leak showing up the late Q's hefty offshore investments and further investment in the exploitative Brighthouse didn't go down well in PR terms though.

@CathyorClaire may I respectfully suggest you go back and reread the thread.

You have just confirmed the point I was making when I posted yesterday at 14:01 when I stated if @undergroundstation wanted to go down the route they were advocating one of the consequences was “you cannot complain when they use legitimate tax avoidance measures such as off shore trusts.”

According to the BBC the paradise papers showed the Queen had about £10m in off shore trusts, a fraction of her alleged £650m estate. A consequence of removing the monarchy is the RF would be able to maximise their wealth by fully utilising all tax avoidance options and the public would have no right to object as they would be private citizens. The RF would also be able to maximise all the commercial opportunities currently closed to them, so their approach to PR would also change.

You, and other posters, can’t have it both ways by removing the RF as head of state and wanting the laws to apply to them whilst still holding the RF to higher standards.

Going back to our previous exchange, where you stated “Just to note - the Court Circular has listed Princess Anne's birthday in past years. Nothing else pencilled in for that day even though she's alleged to be the royal donkey at the wheel. “ I pointed out all RF birthdays are in the court circular and it is not unreasonable for Princess Anne to take that day as leave, just like I did for 40 years. I agree with you that millions of working age people can’t take leave on their birthday, but millions can take leave if they choose.

However, what I didn’t point out is how many 72 year olds are still working, and can’t take leave on their birthday? I’m sure if the monarchy is abolished Princess Anne will be happy to retire and draw her state pension.

Let's get to work on all this tax dodging tax loopholes so that the ex-Royals are free to enjoy their considerable wealth but in a country where everyone pays their way to rebuild back better. We will be able to see how much the ex-Royals actually care about the country and its people. Would they be the sort of people who (rightly) would get one of the many awards they give out for services rendered to the nation? Or would they slink back to relative chinless aristo obscurity, their deeds, divorces, picadillos and the like occasionally appearing in a less than interested press and Andrew caught scowling on a long lens on a beach in Dubai as he frolics with the casts off an Arab prince's harem.

@vera99

Chef's kiss

😂

You make me laugh @vera99

Great post. I have no problem with the Royals, if they were returned to being just members of the public, using legal and legitimate tax avoidance measures. It's what all rich famous people do. Look at Gary Barlow... playing at the Coronation bash, he took part in a shady tax avoidance scheme and had to pay back £20million to HMRC.
Sadly, it is the way of the super rich.
One step at a time. Return the royal family to be just citizens and we can start tackling tax avoidance schemes and name and shame them (As Gary Barlow was but is now taking centre stage despite that, you couldn't make it up).

@vera99 or they could choose to live in Monaco, Jersey or any tax haven they choose and pay little or no tax in the UK. They could set up a water tight offshore trust ensuring privacy about their finances and unless there is a leak like the paradise papers they could invest in schemes that as Royals they could not invest in.

Remember when you talk about changing the tax rules these will most likely impact the top 10% of earners, you know those earning £65k+ and certainly those earning c£100k+. It may also have the effect, as was seen in the 1970s, of driving very high earners to leave the country leading to a fall in tax revenue so everyone ends up paying pays more tax.

@Roussette I would expect the RF to have enough advice that they stick to legitimate tax efficient schemes.

Anyway it's not much of an argument that if we tax the defanged royals they will just tax dodge anyway. After the war and the great Labour government of Clement Atlee that created the NHS, welfare state, massive housebuilding programme and the like, many potless aristos were forced to have a hard long look at maintaining their stately piles in this "New Britain".

As a result many opened their doors and the National Trust received a huge bounty of homes that were opened to the public for the first time (with the family occupying some off limits rooms) to offset taxes, inheritance or otherwise that would have impoverished them. Unlike capitalists/entrepreneurs/industrialists who create wealth the monarchy and aristocracy for the main part live off the spoils of bounty stolen from the days when they were the regional warlords of their patches all ultimately paying fealty to the bloodied Crown.

Many of these Royal residences can return to the country to be open to all. Indeed, I can see a global bounty as the world queues up to rubberneck the bedroom in BP where the Queen actually slept.

"and it was through this window in 1982 that Michael Fagan gained entrance...."

Anyway first things first abolish the House of Lords.

https://www.theguardian.com/news/2017/sep/07/how-the-aristocracy-preserved-their-power

Well by their deeds we shall know them ... if they were to do a runner then we can assume they are money grubbing aristocrats with no deep respect for the country but just goes through the motions for what they get from it. In that case good riddance. Taxation on unearned income should shelter those that actually work for a living from too onerous a taxation liability.

This !

Great post

You, and other posters, can’t have it both ways by removing the RF as head of state and wanting the laws to apply to them whilst still holding the RF to higher standards.

It's entirely legitimate to hold people who have been held up to us as wholesome role models for decades and whose bloated lifestyle is underwritten with obscene amounts of public cash to higher standards

the paradise papers showed the Queen had about £10m in off shore trusts, a fraction of her alleged £650m estate.

Well that's alright then.

What do you make of her investment in Brighthouse?

Look at Gary Barlow... playing at the Coronation bash, he took part in a shady tax avoidance scheme and had to pay back £20million to HMRC.

Rumour has it he's eyeing up a knighthood.

I wonder if the creative accounting will preclude it? Beckham still hasn't scored one.

You think the Royal Family would scarper abroad to avoid tax if we abolished the monarchy? You do not think much of them as individuals then. Maybe you are right though? Milk the money for what they can get and flee abroad as soon as the gravy train stops.

@CathyorClaire you are still missing my point, that this is about what happens if you abolish the monarchy. The RF become members of the public just like you and I, and in that situation, we cannot legitimately apply standards that are not also applied to us.

Brighthouse, sadly proves my point, regardless of what the ethics are ( and no one should be able to rip people off like that) it was not unlawful for anyone to invest in the company. You or I, or any member of the public can invest either directly or via our pension schemes or S&S ISAs etc. in Brighthouse but we would not be front page news. If you abolish the monarchy, they have the right to be treated just like you or I.

If you want a republic, you have to accept the RF gain the right to invest in any legitimate investments (no matter how unethical) and to maximise tax efficiency in the same way as the rest of the population. Yes, you can change the rules but you change the rules for everyone.

I would expect the RF to have enough advice that they stick to legitimate tax efficient schemes

@Foreversearch Of course. Which is why I said...
"if they were returned to being just members of the public, using legal and legitimate tax avoidance measures"

If you abolish the monarchy, they have the right to be treated just like you or I.

Surely we know that? And surely that's the whole idea?

I want the to pay IHT and CGT and for all the laws and taxes that apply to us... also apply to them.

It would show their true moral fibre no doubt. I agree with a PP... Andrew would not doubt be in the Middle East... he loved those dodgy ME oligarchs and arms dealers. He'll find his place over there for sure.

@Foreversearch at the moment their tax is voluntary and is not paid as and when they deem appropriate

No inheritance tax
No financial clarity
Secret wills

All these taxes and documents every single memeber of the public has to address
Why not the Windsors?
Because 'royal'??

Not good enough in 2023

Royalty is a lie but keep your king if you insist on deference . But make him subject to the law and answerable when he breaks it

Never mind his nonpayment of taxes - he could knife someone on camera and no law can convict him
Ludicrous

@AskMeMore all I am doing is pointing out the options that members of the public can choose which would become options for the RF if we abolished the monarchy.

@Roussette I was referring to Gary Barlow’s tax evasion where he thought he was using legitimate tax avoidance schemes.

@Foreversearch I don't think for one minute, any of the RF, would use anything dodgy whatsoever. They have huge wealth and resources at their fingertips, they would be getting the best advice imaginable.

Gary Barlow was a fool.