Palace refurb

There is an online petition which has reached 70,000 in a few hours to get her to pay for her own repairs.

I don't think she should pay for the repairs , just move out and stay in Windsor

She likes Windsor better anyway.

I am with you Shanma Why do they turn up at disasters as though they are doing something to help? They lift a sand bag or two (for the photo opportunity) or shake the hand of some poor soul who has been flooded out of their home or whatever and then jump back into their chauffeur driven limo (or helicopter) and head back to one of their several luxurious homes. It's enough to make me want to puke.

All that about Prince Charles being "a Man who takes his teddy bear everywhere with him, has his Valet iron the newspaper before he will read it, and takes his own toilet paper too." is a load of invented rubbish, you know!

Only one taxpayer will fund the Buckingham Palace repairs; The Queen. Read the facts
"In a tradition dating back to George III, the British monarch always surrenders the profits from their own businesses, called the Crown Estate, to the government of the day. The Crown Estate is mainly a collection of properties in London and extensive agricultural land across the country. The monarch was always given a small sum of this money back to cover the costs of state events, such as royal tours abroad.

In 2012, George Osborne reorganised this system, creating the Sovereign Grant. This effectively meant that The Queen paid an 85% tax on her income. She received just 15% of the profits from her own businesses, approximately £40 million, and was expected to fund the Royal Family’s work with it. This makes The Queen the most taxed person on earth.

The Buckingham Palace repairs will be funded by a temporary increase in the Sovereign Grant. Instead of paying 85% tax, The Queen will now pay 75% tax.

So now we have to agree that the stuff her ancestors nicked and built on the backs of ordinary working people is of course hers and we are just giving some of it back to her? How can they possibly be "her businesses" do you seriously think she has ever spent a day working at them? If someone gives me 40 mill I can confidently say that my family could live very comfortably and we would be willing to open things and shake hands with visiting heads of state.(And we might even manage to keep where we are living in a good state of repair)

Before George III, the monarch him or herself paid all the costs of government (making and maintaining law, raising an army, and so on, all the things that administering a nation involve) To raise the money, he/she received rents from property and projects, took possession of estates and property without heirs, and instituted tax collections.

On George III's accession, he changed this by surrendering the royal properties for a regular income, the payment of some debts, and the government of the day taking on the cost of running the country. In a way, he purchased an annuity for himself and his successors in exchange for handing over the means of raising and spending the nation's cash. The Crown Estate is neither the property of the crown nor the people. They are held and administered by an independent company and the profits handed over to the nation. Out of that the queen gets a Sovereign's Allowance.

In the 2015/2016 fiscal year, the Crown Estate had a £304.1 million net revenue profit. This DID NOT go to the queen, it went into the nation's bank account. Read a few facts

The country needs houses for the people , if this money belongs to the country let's have a referendum, do we spend on a palace or social housing

Sorry to repeat that. I must have pressed the send button when I was partway through.

The tone of some of the posts on this thread reminds me of the citizens of Paris gathered round the guillotine, avid to see aristocratic blood running in the gutters. You think the agreements of the past should be repudiated? OK, campaign to change the system legally, and without being personally insulting to a woman who has studied politics more thoroughly that any party leaders, been a calm advisor to God knows how many new Prime Ministers in her lifetime and kept her own council about what she thought of some of THEM.

How do you think the "democratic" leaders of the US and other great powers acquired the vast fortunes that enable them to stand for president and conduct the sophisticated campaigns that get them elected? It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a poor man to become head of state in a nation full of men and women who worship the almighty dollar.

Oh Gawd! Not another referendum.

We don't need another bloomin' referendum, we just need politicians who can discuss important subjects without turning the debating chamber into a platform for their own ambition or to air their personal spite.

how much will a referendum cost?

The last one cost:
The estimated cost of conducting the EU referendum has been put at £142.4million. The budget goes toward activities such as running more than 41,000 polling stations, counting votes, organising postal voting and providing polling cards.

That's £142+ million that could be spent building houses elsewhere because the Palace renovations would have to go ahead, because demolishing it would cost just as much.

We now have to say to the world that 'Britain is open for business - but when you come for a State visit please mind the drips and mind how you flush the loo because the whole lot could come off the wall and kill you'.

Followed by the endless bickering about whether the winning majority was big enough, and how many lies had been told by both sides!

If you want another referendum just remember NOT to hold it at the same time as a major rock festival because all us old fossils who can be bothered to vote will get the blame for allowing the refurb to go ahead.

Forget the referendum, the repairs will go ahead anyway

not all the old fossils want the refurb though, some old fossils on here say they don't!!

and if there is another referendum [sigh] I may take myself off to the rock festival instead.

I am trying to look at this dispassionately and with pragmatism. The thing I am most annoyed about is that it was allowed to get into such a state in the first place.

Let's not have the struggles of the rich man and the eye of a needle please, wd are speaking about the supreme governer of the Church of England , the same woman we are told was appointed by God and in a few weeks will be on telly telling us of the birth of the Christ Child snd wishing all a happy time, yuck

Who said she was appointed by God? I thought it was an accident of birth.

But, jalima, isn't the Donald due to visit next year? I can see the headlines 'Trump killed in Buckingham Palace loo'.

Maybe it's all a cunning plan!

In that case let's not fix the Palace- Trump meeting a sticky end there is an opportunity that shouldn't be missed!

daphnedill

He might be inspired to make an offer for the place, to pull it down and build a state-of-the-art prestigious golf course there. He wouldn't mind throwing the tenants out onto the street. However, he would demand that all the bits of London that could be seen from the fairways, greens and clubhouse be knocked down and flattened, so as not to spoil the view.

What a good idea Elegran

Nanna58. Grasping old bat!!!. What a nasty and disgraceful thing to say about our Queen.