The row over refurbishing Buckingham Palace. Once again we get misleading figures bounced around and this is part of the underlying call for a republic.
The Queen is reported to have around £300m in personal wealth, while land owned by the monarchy is thought to be worth more than £7bn. The royals also receive hundreds of millions of pounds from taxpayers each year.
That’s the crux of it. But, that £7bn isn’t money that the royals have. Any revenue raised goes to the treasury. What Brenda and co actually get is a proportion of that; the state gets to keep the rest. I am no monarchist, not even close, but I do consider the palaces and other properties a part of our national heritage, so would rather the money be spent on renovations to ensure they are kept in good condition, than sent to Africa, for example. Indeed, better that than pissed up the wall on any of the usual bollocks governments waste our money on.
Unlike Balmoral, Buckingham Palace is a Crown property, not personally belonging to any of the Royal Family. That ought to be enough to settle the miserable hoo-ha..
People should remember the Coronation Oath, where Her Majesty promised to govern the people according to their ancient laws and customs. Since 1953, she has done no such thing!