Costs of UK monarchy can feed an army

UK: cost of the monarchy is more than MoD’s food budget and even that of thousands of nurses, police officers and teachers. In a report recently published by the Republic, describing the monarchy as “one of the most expensive, wasteful and financially irresponsible institutions in the world,” they claimed that the annual cost of the monarchy could be more than £200 million which is five times more than what the Buckingham palace had issued.

According to the report, the Buckingham’s official figures have eliminated a number of costs, such as round-the-clock security, the royal visits and lost revenue from the Duchies of Lancaster and Cornwall.

British taxpayers have to pay around £202.4 million for the annual cost of the monarchy which is equal to 9,560 nurses, 8,200 police officers and much more than the amount of money spent on MoD’s food.

The report also pointed out that the UK monarchy’s expenses are 112 times more than the Irish president, adding that the British monarchy is known as the Europe’s most expensive royal family since its costs are two times more than the Dutch monarchy.

The British taxpayers have been totally unaware of the exact costs partly for the royal household’s exemption from the Freedom of Information Act and partly for general misunderstanding about the monarchy’s expenses.

The Republic’s campaign manager Graham Smith insisted that spending hundreds of millions of pounds only on one family was morally inexcusable, particularly when the taxpayers were crippled by the government’s cut plans.

“This report cuts through the spin and shows beyond doubt that the British monarchy is a colossal waste of public money. The royals have shown that they are simply incapable of reining in their spending - they will continue to waste taxpayers money until the government stands up to them.”

“In pointing out the scale of waste here we’re calling for an immediate start to opening up royal accounts.

It’s time for the government to take control of the monarchy’s budget, pay the Queen a salary and make the royal household fully accountable to taxpayers,” he said.

Sunday, BBC