Thanks for this.
Almost 25 years ago, I introduced a debate in Parliament on royal finances. Other than two sparsely attended government statements, it was the only occasion royal matters were discussed in my 18 years as an MP.
My debate was attended by just three people – the government minister replying (Baroness Primarolo), a government whip, and me. MPs simply weren’t interested in royal finances, doubtless to the Palace’s satisfaction.
So that was in, say, autumn/winter 2002? And Norman Baker couldn't get a single other MP to sit in the debate about his? That's really strange. Normally he'd should have been able to count on a few Lib Dem colleagues or some of the nationalist MPs from the other nations. (The Lib Dems had 52 MPs in the 2001-2005 parliament. Yes, I had to look that up.)
I'm assuming this was an Adjournment Debate - the parliamentary equivalent of a chat in a broom cupboard after everyone else has gone home - which is all the Speaker would permit?