Royalty and the media

It must cost as much to do all the ceremonials, state visits etc for a president as it does for a monarch, and the president's first lady always wants to "put her stamp on the White House" and redecorate. Buck House has not been redecorated for yonks.

It takes deep pockets to campaign for the presidency too - or wealthy friends/business associates who will want a return on their outlay. There is much talk about anyone being able to rise to the top in a democracy, but it takes more than just innate ability. Would Barack Obama be there if he had been a shoeshine boy?

Forgot to add to my previous post that the 2010 net income surplus (profit) from the Crown Estates was £210.7 million www.thecrownestate.co.uk/newscontent/92-2010-annual-results.htm
and
www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/theroyalfamily/8624244/The-Crown-Estate-good-news-for-the-Queen.html

The thought of a president is abhorrent to me. And as for saving us money, I think it would end up costing us more! The rest of the world envy our Royal Family yet people talking about getting rid of them. Great Britain would be a worse place without them.

I don't think we do pay for as many of them as is generally assumed.

There are changes afoot, but the money the Queen receives from the Civil List is in exchange for the income from the Crown Estates, which was surrendered to the state by George III in 1760. Before that the Sovereign was personally responsible for the costs of civil government.

"Only The Queen officially receives direct funding from the Civil List. The Queen's consort (Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh) receives £359,000 per year. The Queen, as Head of State, receives £7,900,000 from the Civil List to defray some of the official expenditure of the Monarchy.

The state duties and staff of other members of the Royal Family (but not The Prince of Wales, The Duchess of Cornwall, The Duke of Cambridge or Prince Harry) are funded from a Parliamentary Annuity, the amount of which is fully refunded by The Queen to the Treasury. The Queen is permitted to claim this amount as a deduction against her gross income from personal investments and other sources - the net amount, after deductions, is subject to normal income tax." en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_list

The income of the Prince of Wales comes from the Duchy of Cornwall, which has been the property of the monarch's eldest son since 1337.

"since 1993, the Prince of Wales has voluntarily paid income tax. The prince paid a voluntary contribution to the treasury of 50% of his duchy income from the time he became eligible for its full income at the age of 21 in 1969, and he has paid 25% since his 1981 marriage" en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duchy_of_Cornwall

I agree with Elegran,Baggy And Hattie64!

I too have mixed feelings regarding the royal family. The problem with ours is that there are too many of them, so many people to bow and scrape to. I give Ann her due, she didnt want her children to have any titles bestowed on them. (I notice that her daughter Zara? is advertising lawn mowers). If we maintain the monarchy all we need is a King and Queen and thats all. Far more approachable, and the rest of them should be working so we don't have to pay for them.

Well, y'know, I was taken for a Norwegian when I lived in Norway (probably do have some Norse blood if you go back far enough). What the heck? Who cares where the royals come from? Is what we're really talking about, and what's important, the issue of whether there should be a monarchy at all in the twenty-first century? I have mixed views. On the one hand, I'm anti monarchy on democratic grounds. On the other hand, do we want a president? The hoo-ha seems to be the same whichever you have. At least you can 'elect out' a president.

What do other people think?

Philip is a Greek Prince, but ethnically he is of Schleswig-Holstein

Preposterous, certainly!

You probably did. But their surname is not Wales. The family changed their name to Mountbatten -Windsor at one point in an attempt to hide their German routes. And Prince Phillip is Greek. So there is no Welsh connection. Granted the Henrys (VI VII VIII) had some Welsh connection, but their surname was Tudor.
The whole thing is preposterous!!!

I heard Charles and Diana referred to as The Waleses many years ago.

The notion of Prince of Wales was originated ,back in history,to insult Welsh people. The last true Welsh royalty was Llewelyn ap Gruffydd in 1258. Owain Glyn Dŵr claimed the to be the last leader of Wales (circa 1349-1416), as his father had been prince of Powys. So the current royal family have no real right to the title
"----of Wales". The other thing which really annoys me is the fact that Prince William has given himself the surname "Wales" :what's that about?! In his favour,William works and lives in Wales.

I think it's wonderful to see these two young people who are so in love and not afraid to show it! I think the way they touch each other and respond to each other is just so normal! Maybe other Royals will realise they don't need to be grand and that what appeals to us is that they are "real" people. They are great ambassadors and have done Britain proud in Canada on a trip which could have been problematic in some areas.

Hattie64 You don't know that Charles is jealous. It's only what the Guardian say and they are notorious for stirring up trouble. Everyone who met Charles say what a lovely man he is. He does a lot of good work (Prince's Trust, the environment). I do agree that Andrew seems to jet around the work, but Edward seems to keep a low profile.

numberplease I agree with you about Camilla. What's past is past and everyone should move on. The two princes certainly have and if they have accepted Camilla then what's it got to do with us.

It`s about time that Camilla was given the title Princess of Wales, after all, she IS married to the Prince of Wales, the title should be hers by right.

I hope all this adoration, which I don't really have a problem with, well only slightly, gives Charles the idea that he can now make Camilla his Queen!!! I gather that Charles won't be too keen that his Son and DIL are proving far more popular than he is (according to the Guardian). He has a jealous nature. I can't stand the man, with his interference and the lifestyle he follows. He spends more in a year than the Queen. As for his two brothers, well what can you say about them????

We here in Canada,or should I say myself,as some may diagree,have been delighted at their visit and the responce they have recieved from us here,its been so nice to see them,on Tv and watch them enjoying it all,and looking so right for the part,Im for one wishing them great sucess in their maariage and their lives together,and yes she is rather thin,but with all the stress etc and properly being encourged to keep thin by those above, she will find her own slef somewhere along the line. Im proud to say that Im Bristish when I see them,and alothough never been a royal watcher will continue to watch with delight and interest,this lovely couple.

I didn't watch the wedding and really have little interest in what they are doing. There are more important things in life.

supersusie, a small amount of this hero worship is enough for me too but you can't really blame people who want more — it is what we pay the royals for after all.

To be honest, I think its going to be Kate seeing that William's ok.

I love seeing the new Duke and Duchess of Cambridge on T.V. Both of them have done this country proud, Catherine will be OK, William will see to that.

They do seem like a lovely couple but enough is enough. Also the constant referring back to Lady Diana and the similarities/differences is pointless. With the serious stuff going on in the world I find it frustrating to get my newspaper with yet another front page picture and another discussion of both the outfit and her losing weight. It is somewhat out of perspective I think. Sorry to all you out there who love it and good for you but for some of us it is just too much. With the press covering every move it is only a matter of time before the pressure could become unbearable on her. Imagine having every outfit, weight loss or gain and every sentence uttered commented on and analysed.

I love 'em. Can't get too much.

I think it is lovely to see such a well matched and unstuffy young royal couple. They obviously really care about each other. They are doing a fantastic job to show Britain as great again. After all we need all the help we can for this to be the case again! It will certainly help put us back on the map and encourage tourism here.

I'm all in favour of promoting British talent – whether fashion design or in the film industry – and the Cambridges seem to be doing a good job of it. She is, indeed, a stylish young woman and they do seem a pleasant enough couple. I suppose, too, it makes a pleasant change to have a good news story rather than another death in Afghanistan, more job losses in Britain, more idiotic back-of-the-envelope policies from the government and, to add insult to injury, Rupert Murdoch and Rebekah Brooks grinning like Cheshire cats. That said, I hope that now the trip to Canada and California has been so successfully completed, we'll see a little less of them.

Kate is very thin but no doubt the stress of the last months will have taken their toll. I actually posted quite a grumpy comment about the young couple and after having seen more and more of the tour and their obvious happiness, I think I must take my comments back (if I may)? They do seem to have a genuine warmth and interest for the ordinary people that they're meeting. There was a comment on the news last night that the tour would be promoting Britain in many good ways. Good luck to them.