As I understand it, the people of Britain are either a) fiercely protective of, b) utterly opposed to or, for the majority of us, c) mostly unknowledgeable yet vaguely patriotic in our attitudes towards the Queen and the Royal Family, even if only at times such as the Royal Wedding or when there is a concert in honour of a Jubilee.
I decided to write this article mainly because I fell into the latter group and I feel embarrassed when I don’t have an opinion. And such a matter is extremely important to us British citizens, even if we don’t realise it. £35.7 million was spent by the British taxpayer on the monarchy last year, an increase of 6% – a fact enraging critics. Those in support of the monarchy argue that it plays an important role in foreign policy and governmental duties. (I’m not even going to bother with the argument ‘the Royal Family is essential in bringing tourism to Britain’).
So where do I stand now? I must admit that my research was done fairly lazily with a standard Google search, yet every page was either a critical article or an official page from the Royal Family itself, which failed to provide any explanations or counter arguments. As a result, despite my best efforts to create a debate, this was difficult to do and the best I can offer is a fairly one-sided argument.
As a Labour supporter, I found it difficult to accept that spending by the Royal Family on the upkeep of its luxury quarters has risen by 45% in the last year, while austerity measures have been hitting the British public – it seems a little insensitive. Other critics go further in their outrage, such as Mark Steel’s scathing article in the Independent where he ridicules praise of Elizabeth, ‘all she has to do to remain Queen is exist’.
I also struggled to absorb the fact that the Queen makes a lasting impact politically – she holds weekly meetings with the Prime Minister yet, as a history student, I have never encountered her influence in politics (and there is no written record of any of these meetings). She is held in high regard for the daily meetings she attends – yet her opinion is never reported. One exception is in her annual Christmas speech, where she expresses sympathy and concern for those who have particularly struggled or suffered in the past year – for example expressing regrets that the public is facing budget cuts and a falling standard of living whilst herself living off the salaries of those very people, on an unlimited budget.
My conclusion is that for the moment, its quite nice to have a Royal Family because despite my distaste for Prince Charles, Andrew and a few others, I have faith in the genuine good intentions of the next generation of royals – William and Kate seem to finally provide modernity’s answer to the monarchy and I did really enjoy their fairy tale wedding.
However, taxpayers’ money should be allocated by the government to the areas that need it the most – and the current expenditure of the Royal Family is unacceptable while we face the current social and international situation so desperately in need of funds. Personally I don’t think it would hurt if Charles was only allowed to take flights that cost a couple of thousands rather than tens or hundreds of thousands…and Queenie would still look cute in a slightly less expensive hat.
If you are able to provide a counter-argument to the one above please send one in to sr444@exeter.ac.uk. As much as I believe in my own argument, as a history student I would feel more comfortable if I were able to provide a solid debate to readers.