To my dear friends, the British:?

Question

Why do you feel it is necessary to have royals and to lavish them with such wealth? It seems so to be so anti-egalitarian to me. Please discuss with me why you feel they are still necessary, considering their lack of political authority.

Answer 1

Hey dude................., we don't all feel they're necessary. I'm thinking of becoming king though ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, But no matter how many times I've applied for job, I've never been offered an interview!!

Answer 2

In fact, the Royals aren't lavished with such wealth. They are pretty well self-sustaining. Yes, they are on the national payroll, but they also bring in massive amounts of tourist dollars, so it evens out.
Why are they necessary? The Monarch is a figurehead in many ways, but still does have some authority, can dismiss the Prime Minister, and can refuse to approve the appointment of an elected Prime Minister. It hasn't happened in recent years, but the power is still there.
You feel the Royals are anti-egalitarian, and you are absolutely right. There isn't a touch of egalitarianism about them, and that's what attracts people (aka tourists) to see them, and their fabled lifestyle. Perhaps we all wish we could live that way (not me, personally. It think it would be stultifying and boring) and can do so vicariously through them.
Do you feel that the American President is egalitarian? Look again, his life style is quite different from tht of someone who lives in the projects, or who lives in a homeless camp, or who works 9-5 for minimum wage. Is the Pope an example of egalitarian life?
The Monarchs, Presidents and Popes fill a need in people's dreams -- just as movie stars do-- hence their popularity, despite their obvious flaws.

Answer 3

They stop some portions of the British public thinking for themselves and therefore help to reinforce the British class system.

However, not all the British feel any necessity whatsoever to have a royal family, and the sooner they've gone the way of all anachronistic systems the better.

And you're right, they are anti-egalitarian but unfortunately I'd like you to point out a truly egalitarian society anywhere in the world. If America was truly egalitarian, they wouldn't have their racial issues or their vast differences in wealth, education and power. American society is just as class ridden and as selective in how it rewards its citizens as Britain. It's more subtle but it's just as difficult to redress. I would suggest that a truly egalitarian society cannot in any way allow the accretion of personal wealth in such a way that this wealth is then passed down through the family line, given that that is effectively what originally created the queen, royalty and the British class system, or the Rockefeller's or Kennedy's modern dynasties of wealth and power.

We're not born equal in most, if not all, earthly societies but we can hope for the future that this will eventually be the real case..

Answer 4

Often, British people feel like they're getting screwed. And they are. Class struggles, economic injustice, environmental degradation in the name of profit, racial tensions, and many more things can politicize even the most ignorant of limeys and they are apt to end up storming the parliament and taking away all the wealth that rich British capitalist pigs have taken so many years to amass. Said pigs must protect themselves. They can do it easily because they own a lot of tv channels and newspapers.
So when the Brits turn on their tv, they can find some respectable looking person jabbering at them saying "we are telling you about the things which REALLY matter; soccer and royals". So your average joe bloke can go out to the pub, get hammered on lager, and slur out a toast to the Queen with anybody he doesn't want to fight, and otherwise get himself knocked around in the streets over unimportant things. The royals stabilize British society and ensure that nothing much really happens or changes when they step outside their flats.
In America, there are many of the same problems. Poverty, violence, lack of access to the essentials of life like medical care, and so on and so on. And Americans love to take a few special and important people, put some fancy hats on them, and parade them around in front of photographers; it's called Hollywood. But it's a bit of a stretch to tell even Americans that what is happening in Hollywood is truly more important than the fact that your neighbours kid got shot in the back just down the street from here. So they have people like the Bush's to go and start some foreign war, on the pretext that "if we export all our fighting then there will be less of it here". Nobody has to be able to prove anything or say anything definitive about it, they just have to keep slogging the same thing over and over and over again.
It has always seemed to me like the most silly of misnomers to call it 'the news' since it's almost always the exact same thing every day. There is almost never anything new on the news.
But what is really important is that they can have authoritative looking people in respectable suits on the tv and in the newspapers telling you this stuff as though it's just the everyday business of all of us working together to make a better life for everyone.
So really, I don't see any difference at all between British royalty and American politics and Hollywood. Britain is just not as big as America. They haven't seperated state religion and state. Americans try to pretend that they're different, but everybody knows the fast track to the presidency is through cowboy movies.

Answer 5

They have no political authority as such but they can safeguard against any introduction of oppressive regimens. If need be, for instance if the government decided to become genocidal despots, the Queen using her people, influence and armies could in theory curtail their activity.

Also, we pay a few pence a year to the civil list, they pay their own taxes and raise millions for charity. Why should they be unnecessary? What about our tourist industry? Just a couple of weeks ago I was in London to see Trooping the Colour. As I made my way down to Horse guards parade I could barely move for the thousands of foreign tourists hoping for a glimpse of the royals. They make us a damn site more money than they cost and a great deal of their wealth is ours as a state rather than theirs personally.

Answer 6

Well, firstly mate, their an English royal family, the scots and welsh have always hated them. Secondly, i dont think 60p per head is a lavish spending on the monarchy, do you?
The Monarch is neseccary to be an un-politicised head of state, meaning our representative abroad is not hounded by Party Politics.
I'd prefer to live under a constitutional Monarchy then a Republic however, its just the way our country has evolved over hundreds of years

Answer 7

Sorry to disillusion you
.The British monarchy are paid a wage for their work.
The riches you think they such as homes and jewellry are 99% owned by the state and passed on down the line

Answer 8

Hey I like the royal family, but I don't choose for my hard earned money to line their pockets when it could be lining mine instead. I would rather have a monarchy than a president any day, considering the state of parliment at the moment... Oh think of the maddness!!!

Answer 9

The Royal Family fulfil several roles in our society. They are first and formost role-models of how people within our society should behave; people to look up to and admire. They do have political power, acting as a safeguard in case the people in parliament try to pass a crazy law. And occasionally they act as scape-goats as well. They are much needed in our society, but I'd hate to be one. I both admire and pity them for the job they have to do, but I wouldn't be without them.

Answer 10

They are still here so american tourists can wow at them and comment on how "quaint" England is and for Japanese tourists to photograph all things Royal and therefore sustaining the photo industry. Buckingham Palace and Kodak have strong ties.

Answer 11

I say old chap... most of we British would like to chuck the whole bloody royal family. They're an unnecessary drain on our economy.