Poll: Do you like the (British) royal family?

DaJoW

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Not really. I find it annoying that the UK court seems to consider itself so far above other courts. We had a royal wedding last year, and while the King of Thailand traveled halfway around the word to attend, the British royal family sent Prince Harry (I believe they were all invited). For the British royal wedding, the Swedish royal family has two seats at the ceremony, and nothing more. Not welcome to the reception etc. Where our royal family tends to present itself as of the people, I get the feeling the British is still presenting itself as above the people in many ways.
 

RelexCryo

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Oct 21, 2008
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I despise the concept of monarchy, but I do not personally know the British Royal Family. As such, I cannot judge them. I prefer not to judge people solely through mass media reporting. I simply do not know them at all.
 

Kenami

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Wadders said:
I like them.

They're pretty normal people really. They're not all that bright, they get divorces, some of them are pretty funny lookin' and they make mistakes.

I like Charles 'cos he tends to step in and stop fucking horrible building projects near historic sites, Harry is an active pilot in the Army, and Will seems pretty ok too, i think he's a pilot too. It's nice to have a figurehead, and the Queen seems to be pretty good at doing her job.

People ***** and moan about how we pay for their lives in our taxes etc, which is stupid, seeing as last year taxpayers paid about 62p each towards the Royal Family a year.

If that's the price we have to pay to preserve what is in my view an important part of our culture and history, then so be it :)

I'm not a fierce Royalist, but I would miss them and their antics a little if they were no longer with us.

JasonKaotic said:
They want us to sit at home and watch them get married on the TV. Fuck. Off.
I dont really think they do.

We just have to have the day off because its "the done thing." Would you really want your wedding televised for the nation? Probably not, and I doubt they really do either :p
This post and the nineteen year old neutral kid sum up my feelings.
 

Jim-a-Lim

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Jan 10, 2009
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Ultratwinkie said:
I was expecting a "off with their heads" title for the "i don't like them" option. Kudos, OP, for taking the high route.
This should be remedied... pm the OP
 

Pigeon_Grenade

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CarlMinez said:
Pigeon_Grenade said:
as a Canadian, i like them alot
I didn't know Canada was a part of the british empire
yes we are, why during both world wars, the Moment Britain declared war, we went to war with her, as per the fact all Colony's under British rule did, our Governor General is a Representative of the queen
 

MetaKnight19

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I don't really have a problem with them as such, it just sucks that Prince Charles' estate High-Grove is about a 5 minute drive from my town, so naturally it brings in quite a few tourists which makes the place noisy and lots of people with cameras blocking the pavement.

My town is also holding a street party for this wedding, although thankfully its the other side of town from where I live.
 

Deadyawn

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As an australian citizen I would be very happy if we gained real independence for one reason the. The monarchy. They just annoy the hell out of me. Recently Harry (or william, whatever the fuck the young one's name is) came over here and wherever he went he was on the news and everyone was fawning over him! It kinda pissed me off. I felt like screaming "what are you doing you bunch of morons! Dont you have any self-respect or dignity! He's just a bloody pom! (No offence to all you poms out there)

So yeah, my feelings on the royals can be summed up with the phrase: Down with the monarchy! (and spend all the extra money on food for all the homless people would you)
 

Knusper

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Being left-wing, I am strongly anti-royalty. Sure they might get us a load of money from tourism, but why do they get to be the people who reap most of the rewards?
 

Trebort

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Feb 25, 2010
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Ilikemilkshake said:
Trebort said:
Jim Grim said:
I don't like the fact that there IS a royal family, it's so pointless and expensive, and I think they are far too revered by somewhat unhinged/patriotic people. The family themselves? Don't know them.
Hardly expensive. They cost around 60p per year, per person. That's cheaper than having the bins collected by the local council for a year.
whats that then? £30-40million? thats still that much money per year, plus all of their other assets, that could be put towards something better like...well anything really
El Poncho said:
Ilikemilkshake said:
Trebort said:
Jim Grim said:
I don't like the fact that there IS a royal family, it's so pointless and expensive, and I think they are far too revered by somewhat unhinged/patriotic people. The family themselves? Don't know them.
Hardly expensive. They cost around 60p per year, per person. That's cheaper than having the bins collected by the local council for a year.
whats that then? £30-40million? thats still that much money per year, plus all of their other assets, that could be put towards something better like...well anything really
Don't forget they bring in a lot of money from tourism.
Wadders said:
Ilikemilkshake said:
Trebort said:
Jim Grim said:
I don't like the fact that there IS a royal family, it's so pointless and expensive, and I think they are far too revered by somewhat unhinged/patriotic people. The family themselves? Don't know them.
Hardly expensive. They cost around 60p per year, per person. That's cheaper than having the bins collected by the local council for a year.
whats that then? £30-40million? thats still that much money per year, plus all of their other assets, that could be put towards something better like...well anything really
It's a drop in the ocean really. Yes it could probably be put to beter use, but like I already said, they aint entirely useless. They bring in tourist revenue, they're active in preserving our culture and environment (well, Prince Charles is at least) they act as ambassadors, the younger members join the Army or Rescue Services, and they're an important part of our history and heritage :)

I'm no economist, but I dont think £30m goes a long way in the Uk these days :/
So true. They bring in a lot of money tourism wise. The junior members of the royal family work for the government as ambassadors for trade and industry, and bring in more money for the country that way.

The money they cost is a tiny drop in the ocean, as stated above. Redesigning the constitutional system of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland would be a massive undertaking. The UK can't act alone either, she is Sovereign of 16 countries, they all need to have input. It would cost 5-6 times as much as they cost us per year to have a review/report commissioned in to getting rid of the Royal Family, and then it would be a massive bastard undertaking if they decided to do it, costing hundreds of millions of pounds changing the way the Executive, Legislature and the Judiciary function.

The Queen isn't rich. She is at the mercy of the Privy Purse. Buckingham Palace is falling down around her and the previous government denied extra funding to stop the roof leaking. BBC News website has a report on this issue.

The hundreds of millions of pounds "she" has, are tied up in thing like the Royal Collection and the Crown Estates... They all belong to the nation actually.

You know it cost £50m+ to create the UK Supreme Court because we wanted to be like the Americans? All it consisted of was moving the current Law Lords out of the House of Lords and putting them in a building across the street from Parliament.

Can you imagine how much the idiotic Government would spend doing away with the Royals when it costs so much to move a barely used appeal court across the road? It's shocking. If it's not broken, don't fix it.

One last point. Queen Elizabeth II is respected by world leaders all around the globe, currently ones in the public eye alot like the ones in the middle east and asia. Her recent trip to the United Nations, Ambassadors were scrambling to get front row seats to see her walk past, while others were opening filming it on their phones. The UK would lose lots of respect/interest around the world if we didn't have a Royal Family.
 

baker80

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I'm personally in favour of getting rid of the "Royals," the French way preferably. Keeping royalty around is bad for people, it makes them internalize the idea that some people deserve to rule and be important due to accident of birth. Royalty and titles of nobility have no place in a modern democracy and presumably egalitarian society.
 

CarlMin

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Pigeon_Grenade said:
CarlMinez said:
Pigeon_Grenade said:
as a Canadian, i like them alot
I didn't know Canada was a part of the british empire
yes we are, why during both world wars, the Moment Britain declared war, we went to war with her, as per the fact all Colony's under British rule did, our Governor General is a Representative of the queen
So did australia right?

Anyway, I've always been interested in british culture. Been in London twice :)
 

Jim Grim

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ZeroDotZero said:
Jim Grim said:
I don't like the fact that there IS a royal family, it's so pointless and expensive, and I think they are far too revered by somewhat unhinged/patriotic people. The family themselves? Don't know them.
I don't mind the royal family, but they do a lot for the country. Being born into figurehead status must suck, but they are important for relations with other countries.
Important? I wouldn't go that far. Perhaps they're useful, but do you really suppose most other countries give a shit about our royal family?
Also, it's hard to ignore this sentiment:
The .50 Caliber Cow said:
They cost the Canadian tax payer every time they visit and they aren't very involved here. I consider them like I suppose my Dad considers my uncle: an expensive, unwelcome guest that we're obligated to host once and awhile.
How do we know this isn't the general consensus?
 

Pigeon_Grenade

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CarlMinez said:
Pigeon_Grenade said:
CarlMinez said:
Pigeon_Grenade said:
as a Canadian, i like them alot
I didn't know Canada was a part of the british empire
yes we are, why during both world wars, the Moment Britain declared war, we went to war with her, as per the fact all Colony's under British rule did, our Governor General is a Representative of the queen
So did australia right?

Anyway, I've always been interested in british culture. Been in London twice :)
as far as i remember Australia is also part of the British empir
 

Crispee

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Nov 18, 2009
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I'm English and utterly indifferent, only thing in memory they've done is given me an extra day off for this here Royal Wedding.
 

Rachel317

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Being from the UK and a member of the younger generation which doesn't remember Princess Diana (everyone loved her), I don't care. The monarchy, in my opinion, is an outdated, unnecessary expense which the taxpayer has to pay. I guess it was nice to have when we had an Empire, but the Queen is more of a figure-head than having any real power.

Plus, they're all really unlikable :D
 

Wadders

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Reet72 said:
Down with the monarchy! (and spend all the extra money on food for all the homless people would you)
lol like the government would ever spend money on that. If the royals did cease to be (something I don't want to happen) you really think our government would use the very small amount of money that it freed up to do anything other than line their pockets in some way shape or form? :p
Jim Grim said:
ZeroDotZero said:
Jim Grim said:
I don't like the fact that there IS a royal family, it's so pointless and expensive, and I think they are far too revered by somewhat unhinged/patriotic people. The family themselves? Don't know them.
I don't mind the royal family, but they do a lot for the country. Being born into figurehead status must suck, but they are important for relations with other countries.
Important? I wouldn't go that far. Perhaps they're useful, but do you really suppose most other countries give a shit about our royal family?
Also, it's hard to ignore this sentiment:
The .50 Caliber Cow said:
They cost the Canadian tax payer every time they visit and they aren't very involved here. I consider them like I suppose my Dad considers my uncle: an expensive, unwelcome guest that we're obligated to host once and awhile.
How do we know this isn't the general consensus?
As someone said above this post, the Royals are well respected as ambassadors and in some cases diplomats around the world, as well as jsut being respected for who they are. So I guess other countries might well give a shit.
Jim-a-Lim said:
I think they are a key part of our culture and heritage. I don't necessarily think we "need" them anymore as some people have stated, and they are very VERY expensive but then .... so is government and that is far more useless than Queeny mc'royal britches :). So thumbs up to her and the rest of them.
As has already been said, thay are not THAT expensive. Yes they cost a few million a year, but that really is bugger all when takin in the grand scheme of things.