British woman has baby

[rifleman 70]

Andy9o8

******Hi Andy,

Quote

I just don't understand why more Brits who scrimp and struggle just to get by from one paycheck to the next aren't galled by the extravagant lifestyles those people live, on the public tab,

But, but, what about our congress critters?



JerryBaumchen

Good, freaking question!

That may be, but it fails to answer MY question.

The actual cost of the monarchy to the UK public is 69p per person p.a. (total £ 35.1m). Profits from the Royal Estate, which are handed to the treasury totalled £ 226.5m while the estimated income from royalty tourism comes to £ 620m giving a return on investment of 2311.7%.

Atheism is a Non-Prophet Organisation

[Andy9o8 2]

People have been answering their own question, but so far nobody has answered mine. See post #36 (not just snippets)

[Skyrad 0]

rifleman

*********Hi Andy,

Quote

I just don't understand why more Brits who scrimp and struggle just to get by from one paycheck to the next aren't galled by the extravagant lifestyles those people live, on the public tab,

But, but, what about our congress critters?



JerryBaumchen

Good, freaking question!

That may be, but it fails to answer MY question.

The actual cost of the monarchy to the UK public is 69p per person p.a. (total £ 35.1m). Profits from the Royal Estate, which are handed to the treasury totalled £ 226.5m while the estimated income from royalty tourism comes to £ 620m giving a return on investment of 2311.7%.

And that my friend is a good return on an investment! On top of that though there are the more difficult to measure benefits of having a Royal Family, the feel good factor that they bring to our Nations (England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland and lets not forget the millions of people in the Commonwealth Nations). On the Queen's 70th birthday I was celebrating in London and the feeling was epic, millions of people overwhelmingly happy and the sight of the one woman who as been a constant in our lives so clearly moved by the out pouring of good will towards her was a feeling of real connection and affection. Then last year when she took part in the Olympic opening ceremony in the film and then let someone jump in dressed as her was fantastic and showed off her great sense of humour. That feel good factor lasted for weeks and is something no amount of money can buy and something that no sleazy self serving politician could ever hope to create.

When an author is too meticulous about his style, you may presume that his mind is frivolous and his content flimsy.
Lucius Annaeus Seneca

[mr2mk1g 10]

As above, they contribute more than they cost.

Off the top of my head, some non-exhaustive reasons why we have a royal family, in no particular order:

1) daft yanks (mainly) coming over to look at their sparkly shit brings in loads of money
2) having them upsets the yanks on point of principal, which amuses us
2b) and the French - especially the French in fact
3) we like to laugh _at_ them
4) we like to laugh at the way the yanks fawn over them (especially the second rate ones that no one over here even know exist)
5) we actually send them off to war where they really do kill Johnny foreigners / put their arse on the line and get shot at by exocets etc
6) we really can't be arsed with faffing about with a system that's worked for centuries
7) we just don't care
8) Prince Philip is _fucking_ hilarious. Everyone wishes they had a mad old uncle like Prince Philip (and he served well in WWII - see point 5)
9) every now and again we get an extra public holiday because one of them does something unusual
10) every year the army gets to march up and down on HRH's birthday - everyone loves marching up and down and shouting orders and stuff
11) when its time to change them over, we get to have a street party and pretend the war just ended or something whilst selling lots of plastic tat emblazoned with union flags to visiting yanks (see point 1)


BTW, they don't live on public money. They live on their own money, which admittedly, is only theirs by dint of who happened to give birth to them and was, many hundreds of years ago, essentially stolen at the point of a sword. Meh. We make them pay tax on it. They get an annual grant pay for their civic duties - opening libraries and shit - which we take from rent on the property owned by the Crown. The tax payer gets something like £200 mil from the rent and pays about £30 mil on running the lot. Not that bad a deal.

Largely, the answer is: we don't care.

[Andy9o8 2]

"We don't care" and "Fuck the French". Glad to see you guys maintaining time honored traditions.

[Skyrad 0]

Andy9o8

Quote

The Royals actually bring more money to the UK then they cost it.

That's why I phrased my post the way I did. Perception is reality. I just don't understand why more Brits who scrimp and struggle just to get by from one paycheck to the next aren't galled by the extravagant lifestyles those people live, on the public tab, mainly due only to accident of birth or fortuitousness of marriage.

I'll give it a shot, I suspect its a combination of factors Andy, the vast majority of Brits see the benefit that the Royal family bring to them (see the post from Rifleman and myself above). Also the number of Royals who are on the What used to be called the Civil List (getting paid by us is far smaller than you think) Price Charles and the Queen are successful business owners in their own right and employ a lot of people in some pretty job starved areas. They use the profits of the businesses to pay their way often and Charles has a big organic produce company which is very popular as it make pretty nice food. People also see him that its not a one way street when it comes to investing in the Royals, The Princess Trust does a fantastic job of helping young people who are out of work and from deprived backgrounds in starting businesses, training, mentoring etc.. He is also not just a figure head but gets actively involved. I could give several examples for other members of the Royal Family. Charles also uses the money from his businesses to support William & Harry too. The Civil list was replaced in 2012 by the Sovereign Grant which is a streamlined system where fewer Royals receive any money.
Culturally I suspect that more Brits don't get upset by the Royal Family's lifestyle because of the value they bring. The Brits do get pissed off en mass about the extravagant lifestyles of the parasitic bankers however as they can see the lack of benefit that they bring to the country and fat cat businessmen who receive bonuses of millions despite running banks and businesses into the ground and laying of thousands of people. Or tosspot politicians of all shades who screw over the country in a vast number of ways while fiddling their expenses and stealing from us while living in a mansion somewhere. The Brits do get pissed off about parasites who are living the high life at our expense but giving nothing back, the thing is the Royal Family doesn't fall into that category and thats why more Brits aren't pissed off but the reverse, delighted with the Royal Family.

When an author is too meticulous about his style, you may presume that his mind is frivolous and his content flimsy.
Lucius Annaeus Seneca

[Skyrad 0]

mr2mk1g

As above, they contribute more than they cost.

Off the top of my head, some non-exhaustive reasons why we have a royal family, in no particular order:

1) daft yanks (mainly) coming over to look at their sparkly shit brings in loads of money
2) having them upsets the yanks on point of principal, which amuses us
2b) and the French - especially the French in fact
3) we like to laugh _at_ them
4) we like to laugh at the way the yanks fawn over them (especially the second rate ones that no one over here even know exist)
5) we actually send them off to war where they really do kill Johnny foreigners / put their arse on the line and get shot at by exocets etc
6) we really can't be arsed with faffing about with a system that's worked for centuries
7) we just don't care
8) Prince Philip is _fucking_ hilarious. Everyone wishes they had a mad old uncle like Prince Philip (and he served well in WWII - see point 5)
9) every now and again we get an extra public holiday because one of them does something unusual
10) every year the army gets to march up and down on HRH's birthday - everyone loves marching up and down and shouting orders and stuff
11) when its time to change them over, we get to have a street party and pretend the war just ended or something whilst selling lots of plastic tat emblazoned with union flags to visiting yanks (see point 1)


BTW, they don't live on public money. They live on their own money, which admittedly, is only theirs by dint of who happened to give birth to them and was, many hundreds of years ago, essentially stolen at the point of a sword. Meh. We make them pay tax on it. They get an annual grant pay for their civic duties - opening libraries and shit - which we take from rent on the property owned by the Crown. The tax payer gets something like £200 mil from the rent and pays about £30 mil on running the lot. Not that bad a deal.

Largely, the answer is: we don't care.

Cracking list mate. Point five is a great one, can you imaging Obama going and fighting in Helmand Province/ In fact its a bloody brilliant idea, Congress should pass a law that states that the POTUS & VP must serve on the front line in any war that America is involved with for at least two tours of duty. That should make the world a more peaceful place!

When an author is too meticulous about his style, you may presume that his mind is frivolous and his content flimsy.
Lucius Annaeus Seneca

[JackC1 0]

mr2mk1g

As above, they contribute more than they cost.

Off the top of my head, some non-exhaustive reasons why we have a royal family, in no particular order:

1) daft yanks (mainly) coming over to look at their sparkly shit brings in loads of money
2) having them upsets the yanks on point of principal, which amuses us
2b) and the French - especially the French in fact
3) we like to laugh _at_ them
4) we like to laugh at the way the yanks fawn over them (especially the second rate ones that no one over here even know exist)
5) we actually send them off to war where they really do kill Johnny foreigners / put their arse on the line and get shot at by exocets etc
6) we really can't be arsed with faffing about with a system that's worked for centuries
7) we just don't care
8) Prince Philip is _fucking_ hilarious. Everyone wishes they had a mad old uncle like Prince Philip (and he served well in WWII - see point 5)
9) every now and again we get an extra public holiday because one of them does something unusual
10) every year the army gets to march up and down on HRH's birthday - everyone loves marching up and down and shouting orders and stuff
11) when its time to change them over, we get to have a street party and pretend the war just ended or something whilst selling lots of plastic tat emblazoned with union flags to visiting yanks (see point 1)


BTW, they don't live on public money. They live on their own money, which admittedly, is only theirs by dint of who happened to give birth to them and was, many hundreds of years ago, essentially stolen at the point of a sword. Meh. We make them pay tax on it. They get an annual grant pay for their civic duties - opening libraries and shit - which we take from rent on the property owned by the Crown. The tax payer gets something like £200 mil from the rent and pays about £30 mil on running the lot. Not that bad a deal.

Largely, the answer is: we don't care.

That's about right. They cost next to nothing, they bring in plenty of cash from the rubberneckers and they really seem to piss off a bunch of holier-than-thou foreigners. Damn good value the Royals, I'd pay 70p a year for the last bit alone.

[Andy9o8 2]

Quote

Congress should pass a law that states that the POTUS & VP must serve on the front line in any war that America is involved with for at least two tours of duty.

Hey now that's not fair. History records that Bush and Cheney each served with valor in Vietnam, and both of Bush's daughters served in Iraq.

And we don't let fucking movie stars sign acts of Congress or state legislatures into law.

Just former movie stars.

[HighJB 0]

mr2mk1g

(...)
2) having them upsets the yanks on point of principal, which amuses us
2b) and the French - especially the French in fact
(...)
7) we just don't care

In fact 2b) is wrong, we apply point 7). If you enjoy french bashing, go ahead, have fun because point 7) is always valid

ça passe ou ça frotte

[mr2mk1g 10]

The list is 95% comedy and only 5% comment.

Having an anglo centric thread without a poke at our friends across the channel is just as inconceivable as doing so without a similar poke at our friends over the pond.

We now only need one about zee Germanz and maybe a bit of a skit about the Ozzies and this thread can be called done and closed down. We're English, we express our fondness for people by taking the piss out of them. If we didn't like someone at heart we wouldn't bother.

[HighJB 0]

mr2mk1g

We're English, we express our fondness for people by taking the piss out of them.

Your previous post made me laugh as well

ça passe ou ça frotte

[Skyrad 0]

Andy9o8

Quote

Congress should pass a law that states that the POTUS & VP must serve on the front line in any war that America is involved with for at least two tours of duty.

Hey now that's not fair. History records that Bush and Cheney each served with valor in Vietnam, and both of Bush's daughters served in Iraq.

And we don't let fucking movie stars sign acts of Congress or state legislatures into law.

Just former movie stars.

When an author is too meticulous about his style, you may presume that his mind is frivolous and his content flimsy.
Lucius Annaeus Seneca

[kallend 2,065]

All that, and Long Live Mick Jagger too.

...

The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one.

[rehmwa 2]

kallend

All that, and Long Live Mick Jagger too.

he's already performing with a walker and a wheel chair. I think you already got your wish

...
Driving is a one dimensional activity - a monkey can do it - being proud of your driving abilities is like being proud of being able to put on pants

[kallend 2,065]

rehmwa

***
All that, and Long Live Mick Jagger too.

he's already performing with a walker and a wheel chair. I think you already got your wish

Surely you're thinking of the SOS record attemps.

...

The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one.

[jakee 1,534]

Quote

As above, they contribute more than they cost.

Problem with all the reasoning along that line is that it only looks at the status quo. It doesn't look at how that would change if we stopped funding them and took away their official status. Would we lose income from Crown estates? Would we lose tourism revenue? Why?

Quote

Largely, the answer is: we don't care.

Unless you speak for the whole country, I think you mean you don't care

Do you want to have an ideagasm?

[Stumpy 284]

mr2mk1g

The list is 95% comedy and only 5% comment.

Having an anglo centric thread without a poke at our friends across the channel is just as inconceivable as doing so without a similar poke at our friends over the pond.

We now only need one about zee Germanz and maybe a bit of a skit about the Ozzies and this thread can be called done and closed down. We're English, we express our fondness for people by taking the piss out of them. If we didn't like someone at heart we wouldn't bother.

Well said Matt (Hi BTW!)

On that note, the opening to this gig by Eddie Izzard always made me laugh and I think fits my view of the whole royal family pretty well:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J6hijsqO8H0

They are an important part of the UK culture and history.
Also, Prince Philip makes for good comedy moments.

Never try to eat more than you can lift

[billvon 3,030]

>You guys just want to get pissed about anything and everything that makes the news.

Of course; that's why Speaker's Corner is here.

[Gravitymaster 0]

billvon

>You guys just want to get pissed about anything and everything that makes the news.

Of course; that's why Speaker's Corner is here.

Amazing how long it takes for some to figure that out, isn't it?

[OldHand 0]

I'm just surprised that her body guardes have allowed to show Kate so quickly after childbirth. they should be ashamed.

[Gravitymaster 0]

What should they have done to stop her?

[Andy9o8 2]

OldHand

I'm just surprised that her body guardes have allowed to show Kate so quickly after childbirth. they should be ashamed.

What is your objection to it?
(It may be that the difference between your opinion and their opinion of what is appropriate is due to the difference in cultures.)

[oldwomanc6 58]

OldHand

I'm just surprised that her body guardes have allowed to show Kate so quickly after childbirth. they should be ashamed.

Should she have been in confinement for the last five months of her pregnancy, too?

lisa
WSCR 594
FB 1023
CBDB 9

[OldHand 0]

She should be protected and has time to recover.