The Royals.

[Peter Loo]

There all heart aren't they

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-68601344

[Targetman]

There all heart aren't they

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-68601344

Damned if they do, damned if they dont!

[FCBurnley]

Alleged photo of her looked nothing remotely like her !!

[TheFamilyCat]

"There will have been a sense of relief from Prince William to get back to the grittier business of public duty

[Anonymous Claret]

"There will have been a sense of relief from Prince William to get back to the grittier business of public duty

I misread your post and I thought it was 'the grifter business of public duty.'
Then again, maybe it was a typo from the reporter

[claret2018]

Thanks goodness William can get back to public duties, I thought the country was going to grind to a halt anytime soon.

[Woodleyclaret]

I thought on this football site we may be spared Windsor family trivia.

[South West Claret.]

Don’t you just love’em

[jdrobbo]

I hear that Trawden will be getting a Royal visit shortly.

[South West Claret.]

Which one is it to be?

[yTib]

headline news, apparently.

the bbc really should have something important to report. like me picking my arse.

[bfcjg]

I suppose we need a head of state and if so I'd sooner have what we have as opposed to a Putin, Trump,Biden Macron etc. It's all ceremonial they have no actual power and wouldn't have a hope of standing against parliament.
That said the antiquated House of Lords needs scrapping, a load of daft old fart lords, ladies, bishops and cronies playing ping pong with the sitting government of noth parties whilst drawing a fortune in expenses is tiresome.

[yTib]

i don't object to a monarchy. i couldn't care less.

what i object to is the celebrity crap that surrounds it.

kate middleton is just another lass. she is not news.

[aclaretinstevenage]

I suppose we need a head of state and if so I'd sooner have what we have as opposed to a Putin, Trump,Biden Macron etc. It's all ceremonial they have no actual power and wouldn't have a hope of standing against parliament.
That said the antiquated House of Lords needs scrapping, a load of daft old fart lords, ladies, bishops and cronies playing ping pong with the sitting government of noth parties whilst drawing a fortune in expenses is tiresome.

Absolutely agree with this.

[claret2018]

Retire them all with a nice pension and open the palaces up to tourists.

[timshorts]

i don't object to a monarchy. i couldn't care less.

what i object to is the celebrity crap that surrounds it.

kate middleton is just another lass. she is not news.

Well if that is her at the farm shop then she looks an awful lot better not dressed up.

Eldest child has dreadful hooray Henry haircut.

[bumba]

Only good thing from the royals is the occasional bank holiday

[South West Claret.]

Scoungers the lot of them.

[gandhisflipflop]

[Lip]

I hear that Trawden will be getting a Royal visit shortly.

Princess Anne ,she is visiting the local community centre,the community shop and the Trawden Arms. Plus other places. Well done to Trawden public and all involved for their hard work on the community spirit..

[Hibsclaret]

When are they getting more points deducted?

[BurnleyFC]

I wouldn’t wish what Prince William had to go through as a child on my worst enemy.

He seems like a good egg.

[fatboy47]

Gotta admire the serfs, cant afford the lecky and gas but clamouring to flagwag and cheer at the dudes riding by in gold carriages.

[ŽižkovClaret]

I wouldn’t wish what Prince William had to go through as a child on my worst enemy.

He seems like a good egg.

Don't have him pegged as a good egg, personally, but each to their own.

[mdd2]

Recent attempts to measure the size of the impact of the royal family on UK tourism have estimated the capital value of UK monarchy as a business to be £67.5 billion (up from £44 billion in 2012) and the annual contribution to the UK economy to be £1.766 billion.
And then both the monarch and Duchy of Cornwall have paid capital gains tax and income tax voluntarily for past 32 years.
Be careful what you wish for when it comes to a Monarchy or Republic. Presidents Atlee, Churchill, Eden, MacMillan, Home, Wilson, Heath, Callaghan, Thatcher, Major, Blair, Brown, Cameron, May, Johnson, Truss, Sunak & Starmer. All in the time of George, Elizabeth and Charles PERISH THE THOUGHT of those 18 as heads of state

[mdd2]

So lets sell it all off. House of Windsor worth £19 billion earning apparently £1.766billion per annum.
£19billion amongst 65million population £292.30 each.Enjoy and I am no Royalist but a pragmatist

[houseboy]

I suppose we need a head of state and if so I'd sooner have what we have as opposed to a Putin, Trump,Biden Macron etc. It's all ceremonial they have no actual power and wouldn't have a hope of standing against parliament.
That said the antiquated House of Lords needs scrapping, a load of daft old fart lords, ladies, bishops and cronies playing ping pong with the sitting government of noth parties whilst drawing a fortune in expenses is tiresome.

So you would keep an unelected bunch of people receiving large amounts of public money for doing very little but scrap the second house that is part of our governmental process (and stops or at least puts a break on extreme policies). The only thing that needs changing is making the House of Lords (or our second house) elected. The monarch doesn’t need to be there as head of state and their replacement doesn’t have to be anyone like Trump et al. It should be just the prime minister and as bad as some are or have been I don’t think this country has ever produced anything like Trump or ever will. We don’t have gun toting hoards of rednecks with the brain power of a gnat.

[CoolClaret]

So lets sell it all off. House of Windsor worth £19 billion earning apparently £1.766billion per annum.
£19billion amongst 65million population £292.30 each.Enjoy and I am no Royalist but a pragmatist

Now imagine how much more money the Castles, Palaces & Estates would bring in if they were opened up for visitors for a fee?

[mdd2]

Only good thing from the royals is the occasional bank holiday

Paid for by employers who have no choice in the matter

[mdd2]

Now imagine how much more money the Castles, Palaces & Estates would bring in if they were opened up for visitors for a fee?

We would demand that they were sold off to build houses or fund the reckless and feckless in our country

[Clovius Boofus]

Be careful what you wish for when it comes to a Monarchy or Republic. Presidents Atlee, Churchill, Eden, MacMillan, Home, Wilson, Heath, Callaghan, Thatcher, Major, Blair, Brown, Cameron, May, Johnson, Truss, Sunak & Starmer. All in the time of George, Elizabeth and Charles PERISH THE THOUGHT of those 18 as heads of state

Those 18 were prime ministers chosen by parties - I didn't vote for a single one of them, but their constituents did. If the UK was a republic, the people would elect a president, however, we would still have a prime minister.

Anyhow, our constitutional monarchy has served us well enough, and unless it messes up badly, I'll stick with it, though it does need slimming down.

As for the unelected House of Lords - it should be abolished. 792 members, eh? An 'upper house' should be chosen by we the people, not the privileged, not by political donations, backhanders or because you own a media group, and certainly not on some failed prime minister whim.

[mdd2]

Any way back to football.......

[CoolClaret]

I'd go with the House of Lords being scrapped before the Monarchy.

It was well intentioned as a concept, sadly the sh1theads have ruined that as well - some of the members of that are an absolute joke these days. Literally have an oligarch in our HoL. Cheers Boris

[mdd2]

But before we do the Sovereign also pays Band H council tax on Buck Palace Windsor Castle Sandringham and Balmoral.
Of course this will come from the Parliiamentary allowance only paid to Charles and I assume Camilla

[mdd2]

Back to the game at Chelsea.......

[Peter Loo]

On the whole as I say they are just a bunch of Royal scournges.

...and as for Prince Andrew yuk!

What an appalling excuse for a human being.

[mdd2]

Anyhow, our constitutional monarchy has served us well enough, and unless it messes up badly, I'll stick with it, though it does need slimming down.
Pretty slim now CB by previous standards in what the State pays them if at all

[Peter Loo]

Anyhow, our constitutional monarchy has served us well enough, and unless it messes up badly, I'll stick with it, though it does need slimming down.
Pretty slim now CB by previous standards in what the State pays them if at all

Really? what do you think of Prince Andrew's conduct then ?

[mdd2]

Really? what do you think of Prince Andrew's conduct then ?
Appalling
As was Lloyd George and I expect many other politicians we tax payers fund none more than Boris when he was PM.
On the plus side, and I know the tax payer pays alot out, Duke of Edinburgh Award, Princes Trust and their name attached to many charities helps to swell their coffers.
Already stated i am not a "Royal" but I think many put in a shift far more than many in this country.
But Andrew and his behaviour-not good-but then "an erect penis has no conscience."
And we better not go there with our male politicians-from Lloyd George, Profumo, Ron Davies, Jeremy Thorpe, Cyril Smith and beyond.

[aggi]

Recent attempts to measure the size of the impact of the royal family on UK tourism have estimated the capital value of UK monarchy as a business to be £67.5 billion (up from £44 billion in 2012) and the annual contribution to the UK economy to be £1.766 billion.
And then both the monarch and Duchy of Cornwall have paid capital gains tax and income tax voluntarily for past 32 years.
Be careful what you wish for when it comes to a Monarchy or Republic. Presidents Atlee, Churchill, Eden, MacMillan, Home, Wilson, Heath, Callaghan, Thatcher, Major, Blair, Brown, Cameron, May, Johnson, Truss, Sunak & Starmer. All in the time of George, Elizabeth and Charles PERISH THE THOUGHT of those 18 as heads of state

I love this line. They should be feted for paying taxes that everyone else would be sent to prison if they didn't pay.

[Big Vinny K]

Really? what do you think of Prince Andrew's conduct then ?
Appalling
As was Lloyd George and I expect many other politicians we tax payers fund none more than Boris when he was PM.
On the plus side, and I know the tax payer pays alot out, Duke of Edinburgh Award, Princes Trust and their name attached to many charities helps to swell their coffers.
Already stated i am not a "Royal" but I think many put in a shift far more than many in this country.
But Andrew and his behaviour-not good-but then "an erect penis has no conscience."
And we better not go there with our male politicians-from Lloyd George, Profumo, Ron Davies, Jeremy Thorpe, Cyril Smith and beyond.

In what way do they “put a shift in” ?
They do their royal duties (to a varying degree amongst them) and in return they get a lifetime of privilege and wealth beyond their dreams for themselves and their families with zero risk of it ever stopping or ever reducing !!

Of course the Prince’s Trust has been a great thing - but let’s not pretend that a scheme like this does not exist in other countries that don’t have a royal family or it couldn’t exist in another name here. Look at countries like Canada - they have many successful similar schemes.

As for the point about it’s better for royal family to be “head of state” than some of the PMs we have had. Whilst in theory this may be ideologically correct - in practice the head of state is powerless in terms of any decisions that matter. The PM is effectively the head of state - their powers are little or no different to the president of a country without a royal family

[Anonymous Claret]

'An erect penis has no conscience'

So let's not worty about Andrew being a pedophile or visiting his pedo mate Epstein shortly after he was released from prison.

Was it £12,000,000 of the tax payers cash to push that 'jolly bit of fun' under the carpet?

[fatboy47]

They do their royal duties

They do what they're told by the Tory party, (ie in their complicity over suspension of Parliament) in the full knowledge that theyd have been given the bum's rush decades ago without them.

It wont last forever thankfully. The sycophantic drivel on mainstream media will get drowned out and younger generations will eventually realise they're being had.

[dougcollins]

I hear that Trawden will be getting a Royal visit shortly.

Is it a deprived area?

[RMutt]

https://www.royal.uk/media-centre/future-engagements

You can look here to see what they’re up to. Not much for anyone other than Anne to be honest. A lot of receptions and dinners mainly, even for her.
If they didn’t exist and someone came up with the idea to pick a family, give them land, houses, a huge income, enable that family to pass on their privileges to their future generations at tax payers expense. And in return expect them to do what you can find in the above link you’d tell them they were mad.

[Corky]

For me a minimum requirement for a head of state would be an ability to use a fountain pen. I know that is setting the bar quite low but this current incumbent can’t even do that.

[dsr]

As for the point about it’s better for royal family to be “head of state” than some of the PMs we have had. Whilst in theory this may be ideologically correct - in practice the head of state is powerless in terms of any decisions that matter. The PM is effectively the head of state - their powers are little or no different to the president of a country without a royal family

Not just in theory. If we get a Putin head of government, or any leader who decides to abolish free elections, then the Head of State has the power to chuck him out. The Army swear allegiance to the head of state, so do the police and the courts. The beauty of our system os that most of the power, especially the power to be a dictator, are in the hands of someone who can't use it - but while the King has the power that he can't use, no=one else can use it either.

How much better it would be if there was a Czar in Russia who could declare that Putin was not constitutionally elected, and dissolve his parliament to be replaced by a freely elected one. It would be wrong to assume that it couldn't happen here, because in living memory it has happened in Germany, Spain, Portugal, all of eastern Europe, Italy, Greece.