Why are we still doing this?

[ohdelay]

Article on the BBC today about the annual price going up while everything else is being cut. What is the purpose of a "royal family" in 2025? Surely it's time to let them just be rich people who pay taxes like everyone else and stop funding this circus. It's especially irksome seeing so many in uniform covered in pretend medals when they charge the army millions in rent
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/crld11w9538o

Why? Misplaced notion of heritage, and crushing sentimentality. And some folk passively like being subjects and looking up the RF in a deferential manner

It's been estimated that they cost half a billion a year. We keep them in palaces and designer frocks while pensioners and the disabled are being targeted. It's an anachronism and needs to go.

The show must go on. I have no idea why people look up to these insipid people.

Speak for yourself!

I enjoy the 'misplaced' heritage stuff and love the sentimentality. Well worth the fiver it probably costs me.

I think it's simplistic to imagine that there's any connection between paying for a RF and others being needy. There really isn't.

Can't stand them. William is sullen little shit,and Catherine always looks far to pleased with herself. God, I'm grumpy today

I wish there was a way for royalists to pay a private tax for their clothes, palaces and servants and for others to pay towards a wage until we have an election.

I have no ill will to them personally. I don't for one second see how they enhance my life in any way, shape, or form. They seem to bring some semblance of joy to others though. The few crumbs that they give to the public, seems to be enough.

Whats your problem with them? They bring more to the economy than you do.
They do pay taxes. They actually pay way more in tax than most of us.
People like the RF and the colourful history they have. They also cost each of us less than £1.50 a year.

This. Plus a current confusion about what British identity actually involves, and a need of bread and circuses. And the inevitable burble about ‘Well, it’s better than electing a President Trump/Bojo/Blair from political illiterates.

Evidently I am speaking for myself, that’s literally how mumsnet works
I Post, You post. We both believe our view to be correct and will assert that over time
I am observing the slurpy deference Oh ma’am and they do so much, aren’t they marvellous etc

It is sentimental to have a sepia tone view of past and inflate the role of RF

Royalty is such an outdated concept.

Why are the same people always rolled out? Someone suggested that we'd elect Harold Shipman. It's as though we're only capable of voting for the absolute dregs.

I have no time for the royals. It’s so outdated. And they do some good stuff but not loads.

I mean, imagine what you could do - what amazing things you could achieve - if you had unlimited access to important people and unlimited funds? They don’t seem to do anything of any real importance. We’d be absolutely fine without them.

But I think the unpicking of laws and the system and the Constitution that getting rid of them would involve is massive. Maybe we need to do it gradually? Just keep one head of state for now - we really don’t need the rest of them.

I agree. We only need one Headcof State, their spouse and the adult heir and their spouse. The rest of them to be told to go off and make their own lives. No titles, no HRH etc. They can turn up to wave on a balcony occasionally if they like but we need a vast reduction in personnel and the land they own, and for them to be far more transparent. If they want to pay less tax than anyone else, want wills kept secret, want to be exempted from legislation they have to come up with reasons why and have it debated in Parliament. To be honest, the current system doesn't serve them well either. The non heirs to the Throne end up surplus to requirements, resentful and desperate for money, with no purpose but silly titles to maintain. They can't behave properly because they have little scrutiny from the establishment or the press and have got used to having lackeys doing their bidding their whole lives.

It's the glorification of them that makes me want to vomit. The fact that people actually admire them and lavish drooling, sickly praise at their feet. It's as if they were as close to divinity as you could get. Almost as if they weren't a dysfunctional bunch of self preservationists with a vast (largely undeclared) inherited wealth, the result of land grabs both here and overseas. And it's almost as if they hadn't regularly been mired in deeply unpleasant scandals both historically and to date. If you want a Royal Family then state your case sensibly, without the misplaced adoration and sentimental fucking claptrap.

If we didn't have a royal family I certainly wouldn't want one but as we have I'd like better regulations but at least the assets they sit on still remain in the country. The legality of disbanding would be horrific, most of the legal arrangements put forward are from a republican bias of everything belongs to the state even the duchys. Charles and William would still need some form of security for life as well as many of the royal residence would need security, a head of state would need to be devised, the savings would be debatable in the short to medium term.

The problem everything belongs to the state when it comes to us paying for it but everything is private property when it comes to them benefiting from it, including benefitting from them charging the taxpayer and charities for rent that goes straight to them, and then they turn up for half an hour to those same charities and apparently that raises money for them- some of which goes to paying rent to them!

No they don't. The SG has gone up to £132M... that is absolutely obscene for about 2 active people... King and Queen. The others are just around on high days, holidays and photo ops. Wimbledon, Ascot, Football, let's not forget.

How Royal aides can say they are good value for money, I DO NOT KNOW.

Then we have security. Every cash strapped council has to fund security if every they do deign to visit somewhere. Estimates are that the security costs £100 million on top of the £132M they receive by way of SG. Per year. It is a closely guarded secret how much the security is, because there would be a public outcry. Under the freedom of information act, it has been asked in court by a KC how much security was over a 3 year period. They refused to comply for security reasons but how a total of security spend over 3 years would enable someone to mount an attack, god alone knows.

They do not pay all the taxes the general public pay. William refuses to disclose how much tax he paid on his Duchy £26M payout he got in the last financial year. So we have no idea.
No Inheritance tax either.

Crazy isn't it

About time they were means tested. Everyone else is.

The alternative is a President Trump.

I bet 21% Corporation tax on that 26mn would pay for a good few drug rehab sessions, homeless shelters etc and would go a much longer way to ' ending homelessness' than William endlessly taking photos with Big Issue sellers!

What's crazy is the hugely expensive displays when people can't afford to put the heating on. Charles turns up in his chauffeur driven car, in his hand made clothes to open food banks.

End the monarchy. Sell off some of the palaces, keep the ones thatcould turn a profit. They all have some education. They can go off and find jobs. Charles, Anne, and Camilla can retire and be given a pension, same amount as the average pensioner. At the most they can each be given a 3 bedroomed council house in London or Norfolk.

100s of millions of public money a year to keep billionaires in their palaces is my problem. There was a thread where we were discussing the fact we are food, energy and security dependent. We produce very little, everyone is feeling squeezed but we have cash for this. What is their value to you? Genuinely interested as the thread is near 50:50 they are good value, but no one has explained how.