8% increase in Queen's allownace

Oh dear...I do despair at the mentality of people who begrudge their 65p per year for the up keep and preservation of the National Heritage provided by the monarchy (not the queen) in perpetuity and whose Crown Estates profits this year increased by £24 million with the bulk going in tax to the Treasury at a percentage way above normal rates.

netted me 84 million

um, it's a business out of which are the usual outgoings for a business and the 'homes' belong to the State not HM personally.

Have any public service people (except MPs) had anything above 1% since 2010? Their pension (and other non-voluntary) contributions have also gone up percentagewise. And there is massive understaffing with nurses, doctors, police, fire fighters, teachers, prison officers. Supply and demand doesn't seem to function here.

As with every debate, this subject causes a great divide of opinion.
I do so agree that while "fit for work" benefits are being cut, and public service wage increases continue to be held at 1%, it does seem most unreasonable for the media to be screaming "£8 million extra" to HMQ.
And yes, the timing is appalling... could it be this is the current Government successfully deflecting public bad opinion at their own situation?

As posters have already said.....this money does not come out of the public purse.
If renovations need doing then they must be done.

Just as they must be done to the Parliament buildings ( which does come out of the public purse) but we can't ket the place fall down or become dangerous.

Princess Alexandra

have I missed something?

I am grateful for the work the Queen does. When you look at the mess politics is in now, the time her family went through with their divorces pales in comparison.

I would hate to have a president. Voting for a person who longs to be the center of attention and on achieving the post wants to leave his/or her mark, does not seem the best thing to me.

I like the continuity and UK history that survives because of the Royal Family, where the mark left is the performance of duty conscientiously over 60 years or more.

We've got to slim down the family - no doubt about that surely? I think the Queen should have retired long ago regardless of what she 'pledged' at her coronation.. Charles has not really had much to do - his Trust is looked after by others. Harry has told us that none of them want the Crown so why not end it soon.
A President won't have much power but he will have all the trappings the tourists come to see and in that way, not much changes. They can all get jobs; they've been fairly well educated but the money spent on Royal trains and planes is utterly ridiculous.

...and it would have only cost £5,000 to make Grenfell Tower safe!!!!

When posters say the money is not from the public purse they are misunderstanding what the settlement was as a result of the Queen not paying tax. This money IS part of the tax payers fund, but is set aside in such a way as for the funding decisions to be decided without recourse to parliamentary debate. The residue is then given over to the general fund, which if course is subject to debate at the budget etc.

Very unfortunate timing in view of the Grenfell Tower tragedy, but I doubt any of the money being spent on Buckingham Palace would have found its way to that particular need nor of its residents.

Cut the royal family some slack, they were born to it and didn't apply for the job. Some of them do a great job, so keep the immediate royal family, they do bring in a lot of tourist money, and tourists would not be anything like as interested in a President or his/her trappings.

I am not particularly pro or against them, loathe Charles but think William, Kate and Harry do a good job, and they will bring up their children in a very different way. Totally agree that most of them should be left to earn their own keep, or at least pay rent.

It is verging on criminal the BP has been allowed to get in such a parlous state and of course it should be repaired. it would probably take more money to knock it down. And it does play an important role in the diplomatic life of GB. However once repairs are completed then BP should earn its keep and more rooms made open to the public and longer opening times. Some of the palace and its grounds could be hired out for outside receptions, such as weddings, corporate events etc. I could see a Russian oligarch paying millions for his daughter to married there.

wheres a guillotine when you need one !

I don't begrudge the Queen a penny of it! I would MUCH rather have her as our Head of State than some idiot like Trump or, God forbid, Boris! Makes me feel ill to think of it.

Do you really think they would cost the country less? You must be dreaming if so, they would just fill their boots like the MPs do now with their expenses, not to mention recurring election costs. And I can't imagine anyone (sane) wanting to go and see where Boris or whoever lives, I certainly wouldn't.

I don't understand the budgeting for repairs, or anything about where the money comes from, but its a sorry old state of affairs when the "haves" and "have nots" have such a huge, gaping cavern between them.

I am sort of entirely on the fence about our monarchy.

I think that the Queen has done a reasonable job under the circumstances and her non political role is useful. However I do think this medieval institution is outdated.

Somehow a republic seems so much more grown up.

As one of the richest people in the world, it's not as if she can afford to pay for the repairs herself. Poor thing.

Why should she? It's not her house.

I need my 65p far more than the queen does and that amount doesn't take into account the cost of security.

The Crown Estates pays money to the queen then the rest goes into the national coffers. Therefore the more the queen gets the less is in the coffers so in effect we are paying for the extra she's getting.

People come to see Windsor Castle, the Tower etc. because of the history not because of the Windsors. Tourists do not see the queen unless it's some special occasion but you can still see them outside all the palaces and castles every day regardless of whether the queen is in residence or not.

Buckingham Palace belongs to the people but we are charged to go into a small part of it and it's never open to the public when the queen is in residence.

Remember the austerity mantra, "We're all in this together." yet Phillip's trip to a dinner in Plymouth cost us over £18K. If we're truly all in this together then she needs to chip in for the repairs. According to the Times Rich List in 2015 she was worth about £340 million. That's her personal worth and doesn't include the money she gets from the civil list so I doubt chipping in will skint her.

Another election whitewave?

www.youtube.com/watch?v=d3PKE8uTSp8

jalima yes I've seen that, but not quite sure what you mean in this threads context?

I would also like to add that I am an avid follower of what they all wear

Well, we'd have to have Another One!!

Election I mean
Poor Brenda, she will be beside herself
And lots of us would be pretty fed up with Another One too.

Oh! God I am thick. Yes imagine. But I think there will be one sooner rather than later, I can't see this lasting for 5 years