Should Taxpayers Be Funding Royals' Expensive Trips?

[Jon_Letko]

Travel budget for royals is ballooning. Could the money be better spent elsewhere?

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4641570/Globe-trotting-royals-costing-king-s-ransom.html

[waterboatman]

If they are on official duty, yes. Private travel, no.

[Buenchico]

As someone who's worked on the railways, the quote about the use of the Royal train causing 'minimal disruption' (while costing around £20,000 per trip) stands out to me.

Trains normally run with each train occupying one 'sector' of the line. However the Royal train occupies three 'sectors' because the rules state that there must be a clear sector both ahead of and behind it. That causes massive disruption to rail traffic!

For example, I saw a Royal train come through the station I worked at during the mid-morning period. Trains on that line, and on associated branch lines, were knocked out of schedule for over ten hours aftterwards, causing massive inconvenience to tens of thousands of passengers.

A chaffeur-driven car might have taken an extra half an hour for the journey but, it seems, it was perfectly acceptable to alleviate that small delay by costing the tax-paper a great deal of money and delaying the journeys of vast numbers of rail passengers!

[waterboatman]

I didn't know that Chris. But from personal experience, being in the army, official travel was paid for, private travel wasn't. How ever, it was possible to hitch a lift with the RAF if they had a plane going your way and there was room aboard. I did a lot of travelling that way.

[TWR]

HRH, NO, the hangers on should fund their own. Andrew, that bloke is one on his own with freebies.

[Islay]

Yes if on official duties, it only cost taxpayers pence a year to fund the Royal family of which I would happily pay more!

[dieseldick]

no !!

they should be funding their own lifestyles by now.
what use are they anyway , i fail to see the point in having them at all

[naomi24]

The royals are popular ambassadors for this country (well, most of them!). It wouldn’t be difficult to spend a similar amount on advertising – but that wouldn’t be nearly so effective.

[mikey4444]

Queen to receive £6m pay increase from public funds

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-40412343

[Baldric]

///"When you look at these accounts, the bottom line is the Sovereign Grant last year equated to 65p per person, per annum, in the United Kingdom. That's the price of a first class stamp"///

I have no problem at all with that.

[Baldric]

That ^^^ is from the OPers link.

[Islay]

Mikey that 'pay rise ' is a contribution towards the repair of Buckingham palace

[Baldric]

For the record
Occupied Royal Palaces, such as Buckingham Palace, are not the private property of The Queen. They are occupied by the Sovereign and held in trust by Crown Estates for future generations.

The Queen privately owns two properties, Balmoral Castle and Sandringham House, which are not publicly funded.

[Togo]

We should only be funding the travel expenses of the Brussels gravy train, and make the Royals walk.......like the rest of us. :))

[mikey4444]

Islay....thats as maybe....I am pointing out that the Queen is a very wealthy woman, and she and her family can afford to pay for their own private expenses.

[albaqwerty]

am sure she does pay for private things.
Travel and such-like, but when on 'official' duty, then it's not down to her to fund it surely?

[mikey4444]

Alba....yes....perhaps my post wasn't clear.

If she or any other Royal is on official business, then that should be paid out of the public purse. But private travel should be paid out of their own pockets.

[Togo]

//The Sovereign Grant, which pays for the salaries of her household, official travel and upkeep of palaces, is to increase by more than £6m in 2018/19.//

Ahh,,, so it isn't going straight into Her Majesty's piggy bank.

[albaqwerty]

Mikey, there are a few 'Royals' who I think, latch on to the gravy train, don't want to be sued so won't name them but they are lesser Royals.
I don't mind paying for Her Maj at all, but an 8% pay rise when others haven't had one for years sticks in me craw tho

[mikey4444]

Alba....we are all in this together....apparently.

[Islay]

But alba she is not getting a pay rise see Togo responses for what the money goes on!