Royal BOMBSHELL: 'The actual cost of the monarchy on the British taxpayer' REVEALED
THE ACTUAL cost of the monarchy on the British taxpayer is more than four times what the Royal Family wants us to think it is, an eye-opening documentary shockingly claimed.
Royal family costs Brits £345 million A YEAR claims royal expert
The British Royal Family is the most popular and celebrated in the world. In 2011, millions of people in 180 countries watched the royal wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton and, last year, thousands descended to Windsor Castle to get a glimpse of Meghan Markle and Prince Harry as newlyweds. They represent the nation’s love affair with the past but they are also the most expensive non-political figureheads in Europe.
In 2019 Channel 5 documentary “Secrets of the Royal”, director of ‘Republic’ Dani Beckett claimed that the actual cost of the monarchy is “more than four times what the royals want us to think”.
She said: “We’ve estimated that the actual cost of the monarchy to the British public per year is over £345million.
“That would fund 17,000 new police officers in this country, 15,500 firefighters, 15, 000 nurses or 15,000 teachers working for the benefit of the country.”
While many believe the monarchy is actually a unique asset we should cherish as it brings in more revenue than is spent on them, others firmly disagree.
Managing Director of Brand Finance Richard Haigh said: “The primary benefit is tourism.
“So we estimate that that’s around £550million every year.
“They also offer informal endorsements [and] additional PR to the UK that comes up to a total of £1.7 to £1.8billion per year.”
Associate Editor of the Daily Mirror Kevin Maguire instead firmly stated it is "ludicrous to claim the royals bring in billions of pounds to the British economy".
He said in the documentary: "There is no objective figure to show they are worth that.
"The royals might play a very small role or tours and a few people come to see them but it's minor compared to the real draw of Britain because if you look at something like Windsor Castle, far more people go to Stonehenge, the British Museum, the Science Museum, Chester Zoo [and so on]."
Direct funding to meet the monarchy’s official expenditure is now through the so-called “Sovereign Grant”.
This replaced the old Civil List and grants-in-aid from Government departments in 2012.
In 2016-17 the Sovereign Grant was £42.8million, rising to £76million in 2017-18, with the increase earmarked for refurbishing Buckingham Palace.
However, this does not include the security costs of looking after the family, which could bring the figure to what Ms Beckett claimed to be – a whopping £345 million a year.