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I like the royal family, they do alot of service in the country and the money they bring into the nation through tourism is probably enough to justify them, the footfall around Buckingham Palace and the like is massive.
They do their jobs as figureheads of the nation, the Queen is a classy lady and they do actually provide government with invaluable political experience, they have little actual relevance politically, but when reporting to the Queen, given her over 50 years of having pms and the like from numerous parties discuss and ask for her advice, she knows more than most mps.
As for the wedding, not a huge surprise, hopefully a holiday, I'm happy for the lad, she's a gorgeous girl, he's done well for himself.
And there are 6million civil servants (wouldn't be fair to single out council workers, there's GMP, NHS, DWP, Job Centre etc aswell). So they'd get £5 each, lucky them. That 37 mill, may balance out on tourism income alone.
Manchester M.E.N - 11.11.06
Teignmouth Den - 05.09.09
Sheffield Arena - 04.11.09
Old Trafford L.C.C.C. - 4.9.10
Leeds Festival - 26.8.11
Could that scrotum tickler be one Matt Bellamy of Muse? :P
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Its an absolute myth all that "oh they bring far more in tourism than it costs to keep them" and I just find it insulting in times where peoples jobs are at stake cos of cuts (mine included cos i work in the public sector) and people are struggling to pay for gas and electric bills and are losing their houses we are expected to pay for a wedding of two scrounging families who are both millionaires and could easily pay for the fucking thing themselves.
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I think that speaks more volumes about your ignorance to the subject matter than anything else.
The Royal Family... mostly the Queen.. does an awful lot for the nation and what she does weighed against the 37million per year, its a bargain she does it for so cheap.
Edit: Did you know Jamie, that it costs more to have a President than to have the Monarchy?
Just think, Italian tax payers spend almost three times more on being embarrassed to the world by Silvio Berlusconi than we pay to have a respected and intelligent old lady to be the international figurehead of Britain.
I would hate to see the yearly bill that Obama costs an average American.
You got some nerve, coming here.
I hate to agree with Barnaby, but the fact is, hes right.
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I don't know if anyone's been  'd twice in one thread before but...
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barnabyfox :
its a bargain she does it for so cheap.
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But they do though, it's not insulting.
Alot of people come to England for it's sterotypical tradition elements, predominantly the royal family, castles and heritage sites. They are a huge pull for tourists, it's not an urban myth.
I'm not a traditional person, or someone who sees eye to eye with Barnaby much (no offence, Barnaby), but they have a purpose.
Whether it will continue post QE-II is another matter, alot of the current draw is the fact she's (i think) the oldest serving Monarch, easily recognisable and a good figurehead.
But see the post before about the legal purpose of the Monarch aswell. Alot of things come under the Crown. She does alot of foreign relations work, many countries still see a visit from HRH as a big deal and appreciate it, it helps international relations, not to mention if she's in a nation where we need to make amends for our history.
The monarch does serve a purpose.
As I say, I wouldn't put a review of the royal family beyond doubt when The Queen dies.
And I don't know if I'd mourn if we lost them post Queen Elizabeth.
But to disregard what she does is narrow minded.
Manchester M.E.N - 11.11.06
Teignmouth Den - 05.09.09
Sheffield Arena - 04.11.09
Old Trafford L.C.C.C. - 4.9.10
Leeds Festival - 26.8.11
Could that scrotum tickler be one Matt Bellamy of Muse? :P
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If toruism is what they offer how about we move them to some sort of zoo and all the tourists can gawk and take pictures to their hearts content and we can turn their numerous properties into hotels it's win win.
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RandomJ :
If toruism is what they offer how about we move them to some sort of zoo and all thetourists can gawk and take pictures to their hearts content and we can turn their numerous properties into hotels it's win win.
This.
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Exactly.
I dare say anyone posting in this thread could do a days worth of her work without moaning at some point. Mind, you, I don't think anyone in here is particularly smart enough either.
You got some nerve, coming here.
I hate to agree with Barnaby, but the fact is, hes right.
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Because that defeats the point of the people travelling to the fancy buildings of Buckingham Palace, Windor Castle, Sandringham, Towers of London (not really as relevant but it wouldn't be half as popular without connotations with the royal family) etc.
Tourists flock there and if HRH wasn't about, they wouldn't come to England, why would there, it's cold, wet, they'd go to Paris, Spain, Italy, where the culture people imagine is still prevailant.
People percieve the Royal Family as part of our culture, it's a stereotype, but it's there non the less.
And Barnaby, I don't know, or overly care if that's your supposed dry/sarcastic humour, how is implying that everyone is stupid going to help your arguement?
Manchester M.E.N - 11.11.06
Teignmouth Den - 05.09.09
Sheffield Arena - 04.11.09
Old Trafford L.C.C.C. - 4.9.10
Leeds Festival - 26.8.11
Could that scrotum tickler be one Matt Bellamy of Muse? :P
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She dosent actually get her "hands dirty" you know. Princess Di I actually had respect for cos she practiced what she preached. But the queen will fly around the world (on our dime mind) and read some speaches made for her and shake some hands and attend a few posh dinners wow sounds fucking tough.
I give her one thing though all that must be dull as fuck but I suppose the huge palace and vast amounts of money make up for that.
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barnabyfox :
Exactly.
I dare say anyone posting in this thread could do a days worth of her work without moaning at some point. Mind, you, I don't think anyone in here is particularly smart enough either.
I don't think being carted around the country, while waving... requires much intelligence. She could be borderline moronic, with an IQ of 73 for all we know. She just reads from a script.
Cue 'Oh, but her yearly speech!'
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I actually don't know one person who watches that under the age of 60.
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I didn't imply everyone was stupid, just not smart enough for her job me included.
Not to mention that every single member of that family is serving or has served in the armed forces for the nation, Prince Andrew for one nearly being shot down whilst flying extraction missions in his helicopter during the Falklands war.
You got some nerve, coming here.
I hate to agree with Barnaby, but the fact is, hes right.
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I really wouldn't consider the Queen as stupid.
Anyway, back to the topic, this arguement is for another thread.
Well done William, even if you don't agree with his place, his family, etc. I'm sure we can wish him well in his future endeavors and such.
Manchester M.E.N - 11.11.06
Teignmouth Den - 05.09.09
Sheffield Arena - 04.11.09
Old Trafford L.C.C.C. - 4.9.10
Leeds Festival - 26.8.11
Could that scrotum tickler be one Matt Bellamy of Muse? :P
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Yeah and what do they do? William takes a helicopter that could be vital in Afghanistan and goes and picks up his girlfriend in it costing £90,000. Hardly medieval kings leading their troops out to battle is it.
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Back on topic chaps.
 
Sort of.
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It's not so much the money that I have a problem with anyway. It's the whole image. I mean, think about it... the Queen. We have a Queen. Soon we'll have a King and a Queen.
It all feels horribly 16th century. It's kind of embarrassing, to me.
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Well done her for picking up and marrying a Royal.
I can't think of any hot queens or princesses nowadays... sad times
Twitter
London 2009 | Wembley 10+11 2010 | Reading 2011 | O2 arena 2012 | Shepherds Bush 2013|25-26 Emirates 2013 |
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The Queen isn't that dissimilar to the U.S president, he is really just an overseer the same as the Queen as he 'cannot directly introduce legislation' only guide it, it is the government under her/him (or Congress in the U.S) that has the power.
The Queen just costs less and instead lives in a palace... (paid for by money generated by the Crown Estate) i.e most of Oxford/Regent Street and many other parts of London and around the U.K that that she owns ... companies and people pay the Monarchy to use her buildings.
She and her family are pretty much self sufficient, the tax money we pay for her is for banqueting foreign leaders, bringing business and investment into our country, forging better relations at home and her traveling abroad to other Commonwealth nations and ones that aren't.
Not to mention, the armed forces are hers and they all swear allegiance to her not Parliament who require the Queens consent to let them be used. This also stops any threat to the U.K by Parliament trying to create some sort of dictatorship.. nuclear weapons also can't be used without her direct consent.
As quoted by Lord Guthrie, ex Chief of the Defense who was responsible for briefing the newly-elected Tony Blair on the military system in 1997, said "the ultimate fail-safe is the fact that the head of the armed services is not the prime minister, but the Queen",
"You have to remember that prime ministers just give direction, they tell the Chief of the Defense staff what they want to happen, but it's not prime ministers who actually tell a sailor to press a button (nuclear button in this case) in the middle of the Atlantic.
The armed forces are loyal, and we live in a democracy, but actually their ultimate authority is the Queen, in a sense it is her hand on the button."
Rather have her in charge of something so terrible than someone like Blair or Clegg or Cameron.
Anyway, back on topic... Wills has nailed a corker to be honest, well done old bean.. same would be said to any guy getting a girl like that.
Edit: Repost I know, wasn't finished the first time.
Queen, King, Tsar, Emperor (yes they still have one in Japan and no one bitches) President... it is all just a title at the end of the day, it should be what they achieve and portray that people talk about, not their mere title.
You got some nerve, coming here.
I hate to agree with Barnaby, but the fact is, hes right.
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Paha, the fact that you think her 'leadership' of the country's armed forces is anything more than ceremonial is laughable.
Do you honestly think she cares, or even bothers to make a decision? I'm sure if Parliament, M15 and the US had provided her with all the information they had on Iraq prior to the invasion, she'd have said no, don't go. But they didn't. It probably went along the lines of:
Blair- 'We're off into Iraq. We've got tanks and stuff in Afghanistan so we might as well.'
Queen- 'What? DO THEY HAVE SWANS? I only want to go if they have swans.'
Blair- 'Yes. They have swans.'
Roughly.
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I honestly couldn't give a shit about this but it dominated the news today so it pissed me off. It's reminding me of the 10th anniversary of Diana's death which we didn't stop hearing about for weeks.
LOL
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I get the funny feeling that had Diana died ten years later, I still wouldn't have given a shit.
I was only 7 when it happened, but I remember how upset everyone got, even my family. Even then, I couldn't see why. It seemed silly.
To a 7 year old.
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no-name :
Paha, the fact that you think her 'leadership' of the country's armed forces is anything more than ceremonial is laughable.
Do you honestly think she cares, or even bothers to make a decision? I'm sure if Parliament, M15 and the US had provided her with all the information they had on Iraq prior to the invasion, she'd have said no, don't go. But they didn't. It probably went along the lines of:
Blair- 'We're off into Iraq. We've got tanks and stuff in Afghanistan so we might as well.'
Queen- 'What? DO THEY HAVE SWANS? I only want to go if they have swans.'
Blair- 'Yes. They have swans.'
Roughly.
The mere fact that you think she doesn't have a say is what's laughable.
Meh, I'm done with this shit anyway... yet another thread that started as something I wanted to positively comment on, dragged into an abyss of wasted time and negativity.
You got some nerve, coming here.
I hate to agree with Barnaby, but the fact is, hes right.
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barnabyfox :
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no-name :
Paha, the fact that you think her 'leadership' of the country's armed forces is anything more than ceremonial is laughable.
Do you honestly think she cares, or even bothers to make a decision? I'm sure if Parliament, M15 and the US had provided her with all the information they had on Iraq prior to the invasion, she'd have said no, don't go. But they didn't. It probably went along the lines of:
Blair- 'We're off into Iraq. We've got tanks and stuff in Afghanistan so we might as well.'
Queen- 'What? DO THEY HAVE SWANS? I only want to go if they have swans.'
Blair- 'Yes. They have swans.'
Roughly.
The mere fact that you think she doesn't have a say is what's laughable.
Aww I just seen your edit. Don't spit the dummy out, I just love ripping the piss out the royals. It's a past time inherited from my dad and my gran, since we're all scummy Irish Republican wankers :P
I'll leave now, promise.
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Just look into those eyes... you would shit in your little Saltire print pants. She bit the head off of that swan.
You got some nerve, coming here.
I hate to agree with Barnaby, but the fact is, hes right.
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