NationStates Jolt Archive

What do you think?

I think Great Britain is wasting an awful lot of money on a kind of outdated tourist attraction.
But that's really not for me to decide, and it keeps the yellow press so happy :)

Get rid of 'em. They waste money through being there, for no real gain.

It brings in a bit of revenue overall. I'll keep it but only if those damned princes pull their socks up.

Bin it. Now.

Far too much money spent for far too little gain.

As much as I dislike the English because of their occupation of N.Ireland, I think the monarchy is an important part of Englands history etc which needs to be preserved.

As much as I dislike the English because of their occupation of N.Ireland, I think the monarchy is an important part of Englands history etc which needs to be preserved.

Why?

Why? Yeah, the Lord Protector was an important part of history, ESPECIALLY if you're Irish (him being Cromwell and all), and we don't have him! He'd probably be cheaper.

Yeah, the Lord Protector was an important part of history, ESPECIALLY if you're Irish (him being Cromwell and all), and we don't have him! He'd probably be cheaper.

Yes, and the colonies were an important part of history as well... so, should Britain go an claim them back?

Yeah, the Lord Protector was an important part of history, ESPECIALLY if you're Irish (him being Cromwell and all), and we don't have him! He'd probably be cheaper.

Since he's dead.

Scrap them. What do they do anymore? They don't pass laws, they don't rule. They're nothing but a tourist attraction. BTW, I hope Charlie is passed over and monarchy is given to William, he strikes me as being more grounded than his Dad...

Scrap them. What do they do anymore? They don't pass laws, they don't rule. They're nothing but a tourist attraction. BTW, I hope Charlie is passed over and monarchy is given to William, he strikes me as being more grounded than his Dad...

William is a tit. Technically they have a lot of power, read up on our constitution, you'd be surprised how much the monarchy can do. Charles may not be grounded, but he's smart, far smarter than William, Harry and (the good Lord save us) Philip.

As an American, I could care less. Honestly who really cares? I guess you could you make the whole “they waste money argument”, but I’m willing to bet that through charity, tourism and tabloid revenues they make it up. If you say “its part of history” see:

Yeah, the Lord Protector was an important part of history, ESPECIALLY if you're Irish (him being Cromwell and all), and we don't have him! He'd probably be cheaper.

You know, it would be better if you said the British Royal Family, as that seems to be the assumption here.

Of course, you could also have a poll including the Spanish, Belgian, Danish, etc... royal families. It might be slightly more precise and interesting.

As far as the British Royal Family goes, I don't care honestly, though I don't see why they shouldn't be around. They do ease up the work of their Prime Minister quite a bit.

The Royal Family has little to do with anything political in Britain they are more of a symbol now.

I'm not British so I don't care one way or the other. I do however get tired of hearing about them in the news.

As an American, I could care less. Honestly who really cares? I guess you could you make the whole “they waste money argument”, but I’m willing to bet that through charity, tourism and tabloid revenues

Personally I'm not going to cry if the tabloids cannot remain in business.

And the tourism arguement is a post hoc fallacy as far as I'm concerned.

And they can do charity as private individuals.

I'm not British so I don't care one way or the other. I do however get tired of hearing about them in the news.

You think you have it bad?

Here on the shores of Blighty it appears in every news broadcast and tabloid it seems!

Scrap the Inbreds!

Scrap the Inbreds!

Yeah!

Down with Norfolk!

William is a tit. Technically they have a lot of power, read up on our constitution, you'd be surprised how much the monarchy can do. Charles may not be grounded, but he's smart, far smarter than William, Harry and (the good Lord save us) Philip.

Quite hard to read our constitution, since it's unwritten....and since it makes no sense now Blair has had a good go at it....

Yeah!

Down with Norfolk!

LOL.

William is a tit. Technically they have a lot of power, read up on our constitution, you'd be surprised how much the monarchy can do. Charles may not be grounded, but he's smart, far smarter than William, Harry and (the good Lord save us) Philip.


Sorry, I just don't like Charles. He might be intelligent, but I see William getting his hands dirty, getting into stuff most of us would wrinkle our noses at, he doesn't like being in the limelight, I think he will bring badly needed changes to the British monarchy. (BTW, I'm Irish, I know quite a bit about the monarchy, watching BBC, Sky, etc, etc, etc :) )

Oh, and I do agree with you about Phil the Greek, he always looks and sounds like a senile pensioner, it's a little funny and a little sad to watch sometimes. Harry is just like his Dad, can't stand the little shit

William is a tit. Technically they have a lot of power, read up on our constitution, you'd be surprised how much the monarchy can do. Charles may not be grounded, but he's smart, far smarter than William, Harry and (the good Lord save us) Philip.

As I understand it, they do technically have a reasonable amount of power. However, they never actually use it.

As I understand it, they do technically have a reasonable amount of power. However, they never actually use it.


Not that I'm aware of. Wurzelmania?

Maybe you mean power as in a disgusting amount of wealth and land holdings. Then yes.

Those critics who oppose the Royal Family have obviously no idea how much they really cost the tax payer in real terms. I think most estimates say that the Royal Family costs the average taxpayer per year the same amount as a loaf of bread and a pint of milk.

Also I would rather contribute that money towards the Royal Family than contribute it to another zany government money wasting scheme - I believe the Millenium Dome since its creation has cost hundreds of millions and still costs hundreds of millions as the government can't get rid of the ghastly thing. It was a true New Labour fiasco. And then there was the half a million we spent on those helicopters that wouldn't work because they had American computers and the American government refused to give us the programming codes.

So to be honest, there are far greater wastages of money out there than the Royal Family - indeed the Royal Family actually earn alot of their money through charity, diplomatic work (the Commonwealth etc etc) and giving people a sense of national pride and uniqueness in a world full of two bit republics. Also in real terms it wouldn't be much cheaper to follow the French system and have a President and a Prime Minister - you would still have to pay for the President and his family to galavant around.

Also I would rather have a King as the head of state rather than another slimey politicians of the Tony Blair mould.

As I understand it, they do technically have a reasonable amount of power. However, they never actually use it.

Actually he is right. The Royal Family do possess a lot of power and have never been made to give it up - nor is there any measure that prevents them from using it.

However over time, politicans simply made it too difficult for the monarch to become and so the monarchs simply stopped using their prerogative powers. The Queen could still use the royal veto if she wanted to on a Bill. However she is hardly likely to as this would give the socialists in the Commons the perfect excuse to destroy the Royal Family once and for all, as has been their plot for at least a century.

Not that I'm aware of. Wurzelmania?

I think they have to approve a new piece of legislation before it can become law. But they haven't actually rejected a law for decades.

(I'm pretty sure that this is the case, but I could be wrong)

EDIT: Ah, I thought so. Thanks, New British Glory.

Those critics who oppose the Royal Family have obviously no idea how much they really cost the tax payer in real terms. I think most estimates say that the Royal Family costs the average taxpayer per year the same amount as a loaf of bread and a pint of milk.

That's true alright. The Crown Estates give off 160 million pounds per year. So it's safe to say that the royal family can do just fine without any taxpayer help.

Also I would rather have a King as the head of state rather than another slimey politicians of the Tony Blair would.

A monarch does have that appeal, don't they? ;)

Scrap it. I'm sick of seeing that cows face on Canadian coins and bills. Gather up the royal family, every last one, every single possible heir to throne and grind them up for hamburgers....they're much more useful that way.

Scrap it. I'm sick of seeing that cows face on Canadian coins and bills. Gather up the royal family, every last one, every single possible heir to throne and grind them up for hamburgers....they're much more useful that way.

Nothing requires that the retention of the monarchy by the UK implies that they have to remain the head of state of Canada.

By the way, whose head would you like to see on your coins and bills?

There is something psychologically important in the existence of the royals family to the British. It may just be that we are more cynical about politics than most countries, but to have a politician as head of state just seems obscene.

There is also the very major factor that the monarch does not change every four or five years. So when they go on trade missions to the far East or somewhere, and then go back again ten years later, they can pick up from where the personal relations were left off. This is of some serious importance when dealing with some cultures.

What do you think?

Personally I'm undecided here: should we hang them or shoot them?

First of all, the Royal Family costs the UK taxpayer nothing. The Queen, by diverting the revenue from one of the Royal estates to the government as tax, actually gives more than the Royals recieve: They are actually profitable to the nation.

And even if they weren't, most democratic governments levy a tax for the upkeep of monuments don't they? I doubt anyone would successfully argue for the demolishing of the Lincoln Memorial on the basis it didn't produce enough cash. So we Brits just prefer our symbols to be more mobile!

Finally, of course, they are the political guarantee for the future of our nation. When this whole democracy craze has run its course, the Crown will once more lead our people as it has done for centuries.

Since he's dead. Why can't we have a nice cheap figurehead? I'm sure the Lord Protector (whoever that'd be now…) would not need Buckingham Palace, or the Royal Yaucht Britannica.

And, The Abomination, we will not be ruled by the crown. We will probably be ruled by a semi-fascistic charismatic emperor, who'll hopefully be slightly more benevolent than the recent examples. ;)

Keep 'em, please - they are so entertaining. BTW, we Russians 'scrapped' our Imperial family back in 1918... look what happened. ;)

Keep it. They're a nice little earner.

Kanabia is a champ, why would you want to get rid of him?

Let's keep them, even if here in Canada we don't talk much about them. Worst, in Québec (Province), the plebes are anti-royalistic.

Keep them...in part!

I think the immediate royal family, Queen, Duke of Edinburgh, The Heir (Prince Charles) and his Sons/Daughters. Thats IT!

All these 'hanger ons' really do not need to live of the state, why can't they go and get jobs like the rest of us? Instead they live their whole lives swaning around, and living of government money. Those people are not needed for tourism and therefore why does the taxpayer pay for them?

I would have no problem if the Queen payed her indirect family out of her own pocket, but she does not. And at the end of the day, the indirect family are not needed.

William should be the next King, Prince Charles should have passed his hiership directly to William when he married that tart, Camilla *shudders*.

William is the only one in the royal family that is anything like his mother, she was the way forward for the British Monarchy. Conspiracy?!

The British Monarchy needs to go through major reform, the only way they can do this is using Prince William, who is down to earth and in touch with the whole population to push these reforms thorugh.

I have no problem with the Monarchy, we should preserve our past, and not be ashamed of it, the Empire and the fact we controlled 1/3 of the world is very important to our history, how we got this was thorugh Kings and Queens of ages past, and of course brave men who fought and died for King and Country.

Keep the Monarchy, to an extent!

Graham Harvey

There is something psychologically important in the existence of the royals family to the British. It may just be that we are more cynical about politics than most countries, but to have a politician as head of state just seems obscene.
Absolutely.

By the way, whose head would you like to see on your coins and bills?
Nice one! I think we should have a discussion on that. Personally I'd be going for someone like Beyonce Knowles or Kelly Hu :D but hey this is a democracy... who should feature on our cash? Maybe a poll for the future!

Yes, and the colonies were an important part of history as well... so, should Britain go an claim them back?

....YES!...but thats just my personal veiw....oh...look a cracker >.> <.< * you never read this!*