C4 Dispatches on Duchies of Cornwall and Lancaster

[Babadookinthewardrobe]

I couldn’t find another thread on this. I watched this yesterday. I am so angry. The royal family are grim parasites funding their luxury lifestyle from the sweat of the British people. Via the duchies they are rinsing the NHS and charities for millions. It’s horrific. No IHT, no CGT, no transparency, no consideration for the environment of which they are supposed to be stewards in the duchies.

Their behaviour and greed is absolutely grim
and I am so sick of the lot of them. I’m joining republic, I’m so shocked at what I’ve just seen. The French had the right idea.

When you've got rid of the royals would there be any other groups of people that you would like to be rid of? If the royals were got rid of, how would life change for you?

They don’t “need” the land they rent to the NHS and fire brigade.
if they were decent then they could donate these areas of land to help our public services. It’s disgusting.

@Belle82
Thank you. Signed

I was wandering around Balmoral grounds recently, and a huge sum of money is being spent on the garden renovation. I was struck by the number of brand new trees and bought in planting schemes. I visit a lot of large gardens and estates and have never seen such a planting scheme and renovation. It did strike me as bizarre spending in the current climate. RHS Wisley would be drooling.
The royal subjects can wander a small area of the estate and gardens free in November and December, Wednesday to Sunday, however, so I felt it was a bountiful act on their behalf to counter that spend.

AI Overview
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The Sovereign Grant for the 2024/25 financial year is £86.3 million, which is 12% of the Crown Estate's net surplus from two years prior. This is the same amount as the previous year, as the Sovereign Grant cannot decrease from year to year.

The Sovereign Grant is a taxpayer-funded grant that pays for the official duties of the Royal Family, such as residences and official visits. The grant is linked to the profits of the Crown Estate, a portfolio of land owned by the monarch but run independently. The percentage of the Crown Estate's profits that goes to the Sovereign Grant is reviewed every five years and is subject to scrutiny by Parliament and the National Audit Office.

2024/25
2025/26
Sovereign Grant
£86.3 million
£132.1 million
The Sovereign Grant is expected to increase in 2025/26 due to a significant increase in Crown Estate profits. The 12% percentage is set to remain in place until the end of the 10-year Buckingham Palace restoration project in 2027.

The poor Royal family needs plenty of extra money. They don't pay any tax on the Sovereign Grant - we're paying them that money through our taxes.

Perhaps if King Charles sold maybe at least half of the 12 residences he has - the cost of staff/upkeep/maintenance/gardeners and whatever else wouldn't be so great.

As others have said - blood-sucking leeches. Oh, and sorry to have spoken out of turn, as I am a mere pleb.

The royal subjects can wander a small area of the estate and gardens free in November and December, Wednesday to Sunday, however, so I felt it was a bountiful act on their behalf to counter that spend

More likely that opening to the public, on however short a basis, enables eligibility for some grant or other

I took my mum to Windsor last year. We decided not to go in the castle in the end because the tickets were so expensive so we just stuck to the grounds.
Good to know us plebs have been adding to the gold pile of the royals unbeknownst to us via our taxes and charitable donations, all the while Charles fleeces his humble subjects from a different direction by charging through the nose to visit palaces that our money contributes to maintain.

Well... it's not going away, the C4 Dispatches programme.

The Royal Family trending on Twitter with 35.7K posts.
People are understandably outraged

if you want to discover how you can take meaningful action, check out the active Republic campaigns running

https://www.republic.org.uk/half_billion_royals

https://www.republic.org.uk/royal_secrets

https://www.republic.org.uk/events

https://www.republic.org.uk/get_involved

The royals rely on insecure (and some equally corrupt) imbeciles to support their propaganda. Fortunately, this group is diminishing quickly (albeit, not quick enough). I’m optimistic, before long, they’ll be confined to the history books and have no further relevance (well, they’re part way there). That’ll put an end to some of the stomach-churning idolatry of the few (largely on MN, I must say). Let’s hope there’s more exposure of their immoral, avarice practices.

Thanks very much @EatTheBastard - I will read with interest and then getting involved.

Previously I sat back feeling annoyed but not enough to pull my finger out. But this is just too much - that documentary has made my blood absolutely boil.

With a royal family at the helm you have locked into our society the notion that some people are better than others simply by an accident of birth.

We have locked in the idea of an unfair society.

They should go.

It’s funny you say that. I live in Windsor and we used to get free tickets due to living in the borough.
However, they have now announced we will have to pay full price to go to the castle. It’s ridiculous, like it’s costing the royals to have a few locals visit the castle. Honestly, it’s ridiculous.

everything is going up in price and they are rubbing their hands together with an extra 50million in their pockets!

My personal philosophy is that other people might be better-looking than I am, and pronounce Russian better than I do and drive cars which are considered by some people to be better than mine but that none of them is 'better' than I am and I suppose that's why I don't get too resentful of the RF or millions of other people in this country who have 'more' than I have.

I don't get too resentful of the RF or millions of other people in this country who have 'more' than I have

How would you feel about the louche Andrew parking his lardy arse on the throne eighteen months ago or alternatively the vicious and duplicitous Henry being next in line had an accident of birth order so dictated?

I don't think a casual lumping together of Andrew - creditably accused of sexual offences - with Harry, is appropriate. I am also not sure there is any positive evidence that he is any more 'vicious and duplicitous' than the rest of the RF. One thing we can be sure about is that he no longer costs us money, unlike the rest of them.

The central concern is that under the monarchy, we don't get any say in who is our head of state and there are no guarantees as to that person's suitability for the role. Instead of the above, fate has decreed that we have adulterer and close friend of Jimmy Savile and other abusers Charles and afterwards slumlord William forced on us as head of state.

Well then, your philosophy and my philosophy are closely aligned.

I do not consider others better.

I do not resent those who have more than me.

I do not look down on those who have less than me.

I dislike the institution of royalty and all that it implies.

I don't think a casual lumping together of Andrew - creditably accused of sexual offences - with Harry, is appropriate.

They're the most recent examples we have of execrable spares but we can always include the monstrously entitled Margaret too.

One thing we can be sure about is that he no longer costs us money, unlike the rest of them.

We're still meeting the costs of his unnecessary blue light cavalcades, the expenses of defending his vexatious court cases and we stumped up the cash for the bid to bring his circus to a bankrupt city which will no doubt involve further expense to the public down the line.

The central concern is that under the monarchy, we don't get any say in who is our head of state and there are no guarantees as to that person's suitability for the role.

Quite.

If they had been brought up as heir, would their personalities have manifested in the same way?

Their lives would have been different - Andrew wouldn't have done 22 years in the Navy, nor Harry 10 in the Army, and neither would have gone in to a conflict zone. Though either/both might have flown.

Would they have been taught different things about history and the constitution? Would that have made a difference to how they saw themselves?

I don't really think we are likely to see Andrew anywhere near the throne now/

But a horrible Wales tragedy means we might yet see Harry in the direct line (not that I'm wishing ill on them, and they might start travelling separately to reduce the chances). There would be a lot for him to learn, and quite quickly - both to be monarch and to run a duchy. And of course what would that mean for Archie?

I see the Royal PR machine is using emotional targeting at us again, trying to negate the response to the C4 Dispatches programme

”William’s Hardest Year”

Irregular verb alert!

I respond to enquiries
You have a press office
They have a PR machine

Of course the Palaces are going to ignore the programme (just as they ignore everything). It’s a little early for “year in review” pieces, but they’ll be sprouting all over the place in the next few weeks

How anyone can defend them after this is beyond me. I think there should be a referendum to see if we want a royal family.

I also can't believe how little press this got,

Exactly. It makes me sick.

Yep.

Plus the hand-wringing about Gatcombe incurring zillions in IHT 🙄

I'd have thought that was fine given 'they pay their taxes'