Queens Speech

The lad had to be there as 2 counsellors of state have to be present if the Queen's not there. Regarding Camilla, Phillip always used to accompany the Queen.

The lad
? The lad is nearly 40!!

Grany

SurvivingJust

“While UK taxpayers contribute to the Crown via the Sovereign Grant, the Royal Household also brings in plenty of cash to help boost Britain's economy - and the figure amounts tosome billions of pounds. “

“How much revenue does the monarchy generate?

The intangible value, understood as the present value of the benefits that the Monarchy is expected to bring the UK economy over the years, constitutes the remaining £42 billion. Brand Finance estimates that in 2017 the Monarchy generated a gross uplift of £1.766 billion to the UK economy.”

Above taken from internet.

Furthermore, the monarchy is an intrinsic part of our heritage and history. Woven for centuries into the fabric of our country, with all its unrivalled pomp and ceremony admired (and envied) around the world. What would be the point of getting rid of such a valuable asset? What would we gain?
These are genuine questions.

Brand Finace got this very wrong.

Here is what Monarchy costs £345 million

m.youtube.com/watch?v=vT4vA0U499Y&t=94s

The video was interesting though obviously, having been produced by ‘Republic’, extremely partisan. Maybe the same can be said of ‘Brand Finance’ - who knows? Figures, calculations, estimations, guestimations all can be manipulated, exaggerated, minimised and turned upside down to produce the desired impression. So let’s assume Brand got it wrong. They claim the monarchy, after factoring in costs, brings a 44 billion net worth to the economy. Let’s say they got it vastly wrong and the figure is just 1 billion net worth and the monarchy costs us £345 million, that still seems like very good value for money.

Volver - I quite agree. If we used the "that's how it works" argument we wouldn't have all these new fangled things like universal suffrage and the internal combustion engine (turning out to be a mixed blessing that one). I personally think the monarchy is well past its sell-by date, pace Andrew, Diana, Harry, etc etc. One low-key monarch possibly, but supporting all these peculiar hybrids, no thank you. x

Rubbish! She works harder than any one person in this country and so does Princess Anne. She also brings in more revenue than anyone else. If you don’t like living under a monarchy perhaps you should leave and live somewhere else
Maybe like Russia?

They claim the monarchy, after factoring in costs, brings a 44 billion net worth to the economy.

That's not correct. The brand value is £44 billion (actually its £67 billion, but I haven't got the energy to explain the difference) but that includes the value of buildings, artworks, crown jewels, all the rest of it.

Consider tourism. They bring in £500 million a year. Seems a lot, doesn't it? But the value of tourism in the UK is £250 billion, 500 times more than the RF bring in. Its a drop in the ocean.

We will be calling it a world beating monarchy next.

Callistemon21

^The lad^
? The lad is nearly 40!!

It was using jokey vernacular, as I often do

Thanks volver for that information

Parsley3

We will be calling it a world beating monarchy next.

VG

JennyCee

Rubbish! She works harder than any one person in this country and so does Princess Anne. She also brings in more revenue than anyone else. If you don’t like living under a monarchy perhaps you should leave and live somewhere else
Maybe like Russia?

Hooray! B****r off if yo don't like it! First time for a while!!

She doesn't bring in more revenue that anyone else, either. And I think the nurses and doctors would like a word with you about working hard.

If people would just say they like a monarchy for the continuity and the traditional values, nobody would argue. Mainly. But why make up disprovable stories in an attempt to make them more than they are? Just say you like having a Queen because of the frocks and you don't think having an elected HoS is the way to go for the UK.

Jennycee, she works harder than anyone in this country! Really I cannot believe you said that. Try telling that to people who stand in a factory for hours, or NHS staff like my daughters. I bet they’d love to just turn up and shake hands for a few hours, whilst someone else looks after the children and cleans the house, cook meals and does the shopping etc. Blimey please explain her hard working life to me.

Works hard?? Really??? When the RF travel around everything is organised, she doesn’t have to book tickets, pack her clothes, sort out transfers, hang about in airports, worry about meals, everything is done for them they just have to pose for photos, wave, shake hands, make small talk and open the odd hospital. France gets plenty of tourists btw-more than the U.K. - they chopped their royals heads off and I doubt they are envious of ours.

As we thought

The point with any monarchy, except the Dutch, is that the position of monarch is meant to be life-long.

Obviously, the Queen could choose to abdicate, or to remain Queen and just hand over more and more tasks to the Prince of Wales or other members of the Royal Family, but all the indications are that she would regard doing either as derelection of duty.

George III was periodically insane and his eldest son was appointed Prince Regent during the periods when his father was unable to govern, so there are constitutional precedents for ill-health preventing the monarch from soldiering on.

However, I remember very clearly how hard it was to persuade first my mother and later my father that they were no longer fit to drive a car.

That memory makes me heartily sorry for Prince Charles if he is beginning to feel his mother is not up to her job any more, or indeed any other member of the Royal Family or the government delegated to broach such a emotional issue to the Queen.

You could feel with some justification that Prince Charles who I believe is three years older than I and thus 73 is too old for the job if indeed it falls vacant in his lifetime. I w ould not want a full time job at my present age, but HRH may feel differently.

The point with any monarchy, except the Dutch, is that the position of monarch is meant to be life-long.

Akihito of Japan abdicated in 2019.

Juan Carlos of Spain abdicated in 2014.

Albert II of Belgium abdicated in 2013.

We're the outlier.

France gets plenty of tourists btw-more than the U.K. - they chopped their royals heads off and I doubt they are envious of ours.
Disneyland Paris receives double the number of visitors tourists than The Palace of Versailles. You do get to see quite a few princesses and castles in the park though!

She works harder than any one person in this country

Just saw this ! I ve seen some hilarious comments on GN but this takes the proverbial biscuit

I’m sure all the rest of us stayed away from work if we were unwell and the Queen is perfectly entitled to do the same.

This from Professor Vernon Bogdanor, professor of government at King’s College, London and author of The Monarchy and the Constitution ...

www.theguardian.com/politics/2022/may/10/queen-remains-very-much-in-charge-even-as-charles-makes-speech

... which confirms my understanding of the Regency Act 1937.

SurvivingJust

Grany

SurvivingJust

“While UK taxpayers contribute to the Crown via the Sovereign Grant, the Royal Household also brings in plenty of cash to help boost Britain's economy - and the figure amounts tosome billions of pounds. “

“How much revenue does the monarchy generate?

The intangible value, understood as the present value of the benefits that the Monarchy is expected to bring the UK economy over the years, constitutes the remaining £42 billion. Brand Finance estimates that in 2017 the Monarchy generated a gross uplift of £1.766 billion to the UK economy.”

Above taken from internet.

Furthermore, the monarchy is an intrinsic part of our heritage and history. Woven for centuries into the fabric of our country, with all its unrivalled pomp and ceremony admired (and envied) around the world. What would be the point of getting rid of such a valuable asset? What would we gain?
These are genuine questions.

Brand Finace got this very wrong.

Here is what Monarchy costs £345 million

m.youtube.com/watch?v=vT4vA0U499Y&t=94s

The video was interesting though obviously, having been produced by ‘Republic’, extremely partisan. Maybe the same can be said of ‘Brand Finance’ - who knows? Figures, calculations, estimations, guestimations all can be manipulated, exaggerated, minimised and turned upside down to produce the desired impression. So let’s assume Brand got it wrong. They claim the monarchy, after factoring in costs, brings a 44 billion net worth to the economy. Let’s say they got it vastly wrong and the figure is just 1 billion net worth and the monarchy costs us £345 million, that still seems like very good value for money.

I found Brand Finance

Here is the actual facts

m.youtube.com/watch?v=7qgdJ5XWj8c&t=70s

Thank you, Whitewavemark2 (15:18:31). Love it!

Hereditary prince in a ridiculous Ruritanian uniform on a golden throne in Parliament’s unelected chamber reading out a Government’s annual plan.

Welcome to modern Britain.

The future already looks dated

I think we’ve all missed the biggest question of the Queen’s speech today.
Why was Camilla in a black suit?
I thought they all wore white long gowns, well the women anyway. I remember pictures of Diana and Camilla in long evening type gowns. Why the change?

I am definitely not a royalist and don't really care who reads the speech as, has been said already, it is written by the government.

I have no particular affection for the queen but I do believe that she feels a sense of duty, albeit to what I consider to be an outdated monarchical system. It seems rather callous of people to suggest that she is now of no use constitutionally and should pass her responsibilities on to Charles, who, in my view, is not exactly a shining example.

My feeling is that the queen should continue for as long as she is mentally able and then this system should be ditched and replaced by something that aspires to equality and justice for all, rather than deference to unearned privilege. Of course, I recognise that this is very unlikely to happen since most of the media support the current system unquestioningly.

I thought Camilla’s suit was navy. She looked very smart.

I think the Queen wore ‘normal’ clothes the last time this event was held. She too looked lovely.