I so don't care…

correction - and to imply she hasn't is conjecture.

??

grumppa
I live in the north west of England, and my council tax per year is just over three hundred pounds more than it would be if I lived in Windsor/Maidenhead.
So, your comment about the amount of tax paid in London and the south is far from accurate.

Just to set the record straight regarding the comments made about Canada. Justin Trudeau is Prime Minister of Canada. The head of state is HM Queen. Same set up as UK.

I am horrified that the Queen's life of dedication and service could be viewed so lightly. She has never had a moment of complete freedom and privacy and even on Christmas Day which most of us take for granted will be ours to enjoy the Queen has her red boxes to deal with. The 'She's rich and has the life of Riley' comments are unconsidered as with riches comes responsibility and the Queen's life has been circumscribed by duty. You only have to look at the mess other countries have got themselves into with kleptomaniac keisers, 'democratic' demagogues and putsch presidents while the UK has had a still centre of stability keeping it all together whatever the complexion of the government.

I am puzzled by your comment regarding taxes grummpa .

Surely we all enjoy the same tax allowances (some of us actually have no choice but to actually pay them in full) so can't see how London people pay any more than the rest of us, except of course for the fact that on average they do earn a hell of a lot more.

Interesting to compare council tax brackets though.

and I stick by my comment that the royal do nothing whatsoever to benefit the North.

Canada doesn't have to pay for the Windsors

Such a pity all husbands cannot spend as much time with their children as William , why can he not work?

I am certainly no royal admirer. I have contempt for certain members of 'the firm' who I feel despite being 'entitled' to numerous privileges, do not pull their weight. (--e.g. Prince Andrew)-- but I do have great admiration for the Queen. She was not ',born to be Queen',it was only because he father's brother abdicated that she ended up with the job! But for someone her age,I think she works very hard.

If only there were a "royalty channel" on TV and then those people who don't want the constant royal non-news (accompanied by fawning and inane commentary) practically every day could avoid it.

I agree Spangles, it the number in the family who do not do a dats work but have all the privileges that is so wrong.

I perhaps am too critical of the queen , she was trained by her grandmother so different generations, but I think William and Harry are lazy and need to get out and work. Charles is not popular yet he has carried out royal duties from a young age , I feel quite sorry for that man

I'm with you, Absent!
I want no truck with all that drooling over the birthday of an overprivilaged old woman.

" Don't Watch it ! " we dissenters are predictably told; but how can we avoid it?

±I have a keen interest in what is actually happening in the real world, but on both radio and TV, the saccharine parade of sycophantic reportage marches on, day after day; long after every juicy morsel of ER's life has been hung out for our inspection.
Try a Newspaper : Not a hope. There they all are, yet again;
in their Ruritainian, medal be-strown uniforms, their sugared -almond coloured silken garments, and oh those ridiculous hats!
Please, God, when will this all end. When will we cease to need
these pampered spendthrifts to provide bread and circuses to
amuse and pacify the masses.

I wish there was a button on the forums that said 'agree' or even 'disagree' beside each comment. I quite often read a comment a and want to give it a round of applause (or a raspberry!!)

Sadly Leonora47 the bread and circuses works!

If she'd been born a day earlier, her birthday would have been the same day as Hitler's.
That would have been an interesting problem.
Just saying because someone asked earlier on the thread if we wanted a Hitler or Putin instead.

I used to feel exactly the same, absent, but I recently read a very interesting article which pointed out that the countries where people have the most freedom and democracy, as well as, globally speaking, good standards of living, all have monarchies. This doesn't mean that all monarchies are good places to live, only that the best places to live have monarchies. I still don't really care but I no longer think that republics are necessarily better even theoretically, never mind in practice.

To those who, quite rightly, asked if we might prefer an elected president like North Korea's Kim- Long Un, I need to point out that he was never democratically elected.
He is simply the third member of the Kim dynasty to inherit the North Korean Presidency.
His grandfather and father were both Presidents before him.

Just another Dynastic Family, not unlike our very own.
An example for us to wonder about?

Saudi Arabia has a monarch

Well said Annie. It really annoys me when people say 'oh isn't she amazing for her age' . It just goes to show how amazing we all could be if we were lucky enough to be waited on hand and foot, had no money worries and didn't have to rely on the NHS !

Finland doesn't.

This is quite entertaining, rather like a tennis match (I assume, since Wimbledon leaves me cold) so here are some statistics to throw into the melting pot:

Public engagements for the year 2015
The Queen 340
Duke of Edinburgh (age 94) 250
Princess Anne 544 (Good grief! When does she ever sit down?)
Prince Charles 527

The Sovereign Grant, which replaced the Civil List in 2012 was £35.7 million last year, which equates to 56p per 'subject'. 15% of the Sovereign Grant comes from Crown Estate revenue. Security for the Royal Family is extra and paid for from our taxes.

According to the Sunday Times rich list, the Queen is privately worth £340million which makes her 302nd richest in the country. You'll have to do your own research to find out who the 301 richer people are!
UK tourism is worth in excess of £257 billion which is almost 10% of GDP. It supports 3.8 million jobs which is 11% of the total workforce.

A staff nurse earns on average £22,926pa
A newly qualified teacher starts about the same.
Adam Johnson, disgraced premiership footballer, 'earned' £60,000 per week, which equates to £3.12million per year for kicking a ball around a field with 21 other guys for 90 minutes a week during the season.

I'm fed up now! All this is available on the net. If you want any more, you can sing it yourself! ?

Can't stand all this especially plummy accents and fawning women!!! Queen is ok though she's not had a life in poverty worrying about a job or whether she can either eat or heat her house.
Absolutely can't stand Charles and wifey (being polite) and hope monarchy ends after Queen passes

I'm not that interested in the members of the royal family but I am very pro the institution of royalty. Many need a role model and our Queen is a brilliant one somewhat better than a footballer or celeb. Who would you replace the royal family with - a president, the prime minister in power at the time and always changing or? These are likely to be political and their poor wives are suddenly pushed into the limelight.

Think on it.

Yes, ab, but I think you missed the point.

Yes, Queenie is ok and no doubt works hard and doesn't interfere with the democratically elected government. However, Charles 111 will be a different kettle of fish, he will be at least 70 when he comes to the throne, is known to be rather dim and doesn't hesitate to meddle in affairs of state. I thinks the popularity of the monarchy will plummet when that happens.