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Has the British Royal Family become irrelevant?

Results so far:

Yes
60% 246 votes Total: 411 votes
No
40% 165 votes

The British Royalty is irrelevant to so many people in so many ways. They are part of history and should be consigned to it.

Let's look at some popular royalist mythology:

Tourists visit Britain because of the British Royalty:

No they do not. They generally visit Buckingham Palace to view the outside of the building and the ceremonial traditions that are part of our history, such as the Changing of the Guard. How many tourists ever glimpse the Queen or even a minor member of royalty whilst visiting the UK?

Would the Changing of the Guard or any other ceremony be unduly affected if the Queen were replaced by a new, elected, head of state? Such as a President? It is strange how negative our cousins in the US are over this one considering they kicked our Royalty out centuries ago!

Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle contain a wealth of treasures, works of art and antiques, yet only a tiny area of each is open to the public. There are royal properties throughout the UK and most should be fully opened to all who have an interest in our history, as long as they pay a fee to enter. How much would that raise in extra tourist revenue? These amazing properties and their contents actually belong to the people of the UK, not a dysfunctional and over-privileged aristocratic family whose bloodlines are more Germanic than British. The Queen holds these treasure filled palaces as Sovereign on behalf of the nation and they are not her personal homes! Yet, she treats them like it.

The Royal Family does a lot for charity:

Not really. The Prince's Trust was set up as a cynical PR stunt to give an unpopular, gawky youth a suitable image for the public. OK, it does some people some good, but it was the British Establishment that created the charity in his name. If you consider the amount of free time this particular member of our royalty has on his hands you realize he actually does very little for any charitable cause. In fact they all do very little. Period.

Their fabulous wealth is partly the result of royalty having paid no tax until very recently. Now the Queen and Charles pay a little in tax, but only voluntarily. They also benefit from taxpayers through the Civil List, although this is insignificant compared to the income and capital gains they enjoy from their ownership and stewardship of enormous swathes of Britain. Charles has not been slow to capitalize on his unique position by turning large areas of agricultural land into housing estates, despite his so-called green credentials.


Below are the top articles rated and ranked by Helium members on:

Has the British Royal Family become irrelevant?

Yes
  • 1 of 24

    by Will Patching

    The British Royalty is irrelevant to so many people in so many ways. They are part of history and should be consigned to

    read more

  • by William Cobbs

    As an American, I can't think of anything more IRRELEVANT than the British royal family.
    After all, they are the direct descendants

    read more

No
  • 1 of 22

    by Aria Quill

    The British Royal Family are very relevant to society. The Queen herself should be honoured more than she has ever been especially

    read more

  • 2 of 22

    by Sarah Frankton

    British society and the Royal family have changed so much in the last 50 years that it is easy to see why people believe

    read more

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