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In Defence of the Royals
Over the last 24 hours or so Sky News and other news
agencies/organisations have been pumping out criticism of Great
Britain's Royal Family. Well maybe we should consider what the News
Media don't tell you....
It has been reported that per person in the UK it costs just £0.69
per year to fund the civil list (the money given to run the Royal
Family), that works out at £41.5M. To put that figure in perspective
let's consider the figures and how they break down.
The civil list is actually only around £9 million.
£27 million is 'grants-in-aid' which is basically used to maintain
Royal buildings. This is a figure that would be spent regardless of
whether we had a Royal Family or not.
The remaining is used for things like the Royal Train and 'the
Queen's Flight'
Now whilst this may seem a lot we often forget that the Queen
actually pays Tax like the rest of us. The 'Privy Purse' which is
essentially income from the Duchy of Lancaster. In 2003 a report by
the Taxpayer's alliance actually estimated the amount that the Queen
pays to the Treasury at £168 Million. That's right the Queen
actually pays the Treasury £126 Million more than she recieves from
the Taxpayer! That means that in reality the Queen and the Royal
Family DO NOT cost us the taxpayer a penny, they actually give us
£2.80 per year per person.
Now, that might seem like a nice little sum. Each year the Queen
pays the government more than she recieves. Fantastic. For all their
quirks and the media stories they generate the Royal Family also
benefit our nation's economy through the tourism and business their
very existance creates.
So remember, the next time some mis-informed person goes on about
how much we pay to 'keep' the Royal Family tell them they are wrong.
As for the rumoured requests for a greater provision in the Civil
List? Well let's not forget the Queen pays £168 million in
Tax....wouldn't it be nice to give them a little break? Finally, a
little reminder.....don't believe everything the news media tells
you...they have been, can be, and in this instance ARE wrong!
By: Martin Nelson
A word from the Author
This piece was first published in July '09 and was a response to the shoddy reporting of certain news media sources.
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