UK lawmakers tell queen to cut costs, boost income
Source: AP
Britain's royal household needs to get a little more entrepreneurial, eye possible staff cuts and replace an ancient palace boiler, lawmakers say in a new report.
The report published Tuesday on the finances of Queen Elizabeth II has exposed crumbling palaces and depleted coffers, and discovered that a royal reserve fund for emergencies is down to its last million pounds ($1.6 million).
Legislators on the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee urged royal officials to adopt a more commercial approach and suggested opening up Buckingham Palace to visitors more often.
The panel said the royal household needed more cash to address a serious maintenance backlog on crumbling palaces. It said at least 39 percent of royal buildings and probably more were in an unacceptable state, "with some properties in a dangerous or deteriorating condition."
Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/news/world/article/UK-lawmakers-tell-queen-to-cut-costs-boost-income-5181423.php
DonViejo
(60,536 posts)what qualifies this article as LBN of national importance?
monmouth3
(3,871 posts)LiberalEsto
(22,845 posts)Let him worry about the plumbing.
ashling
(25,771 posts)another_liberal
(8,821 posts)Just how many fucking palaces does the Queen have?
AtheistCrusader
(33,982 posts)Maybe time to form private preservation societies. OR maybe a little triage on what is actually historical stuff and what maybe doesn't matter anymore.
dipsydoodle
(42,239 posts)another_liberal
(8,821 posts)Fascinating stuff.
Swede Atlanta
(3,596 posts)I would have expected the royal finances to be in better shape.
It needs to be run like a business. I thought at one time the queen was the wealthiest woman in the world. What happened to all that wealth?
Plus they don't need to have a dozen castles to serve as monarchs. They could do like John McCain and only have 7 or 8 around. They sold that petrol-guzzling yacht a few years ago.
And she could wear her hats and shoes more than once.
But I will leave that to the British to sort out.
DeSwiss
(27,137 posts)Response to Jesus Malverde (Original post)
Name removed Message auto-removed
dipsydoodle
(42,239 posts)And you're outvoted.
Jesus Malverde
(10,274 posts)Don't be confused who rules over who.
dipsydoodle
(42,239 posts)1000words
(7,051 posts)Surely there are few trinkets and baubles these poor folks can part with ...
maindawg
(1,151 posts)Some one needs to enlighten the idiots that run the government in England that its 2014.
The monarchy is a joke. They aren't even wealthy anymore. They are figureheads. Bigoted , to be sure. Welding undue influence in a democratic society. They aren't even cute. They aren't fun.They murdered the princes as if their idiot reign mattered. Charles has waited 50 years while that old bag hangs on like some of the ancient popes who refuse to die.
Enough already England.
Hell the world knows these people are imposter's anyway. We know that the real king lives in Australia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Abney-Hastings,_14th_Earl_of_Loudoun
Its a fairy tale. Its really grown tiring to pretend those assholes a matter. For gods sake and the sake of humanity and all that is decent, please England. Enough already..........
TBF
(31,921 posts)At least they still have a democratic society ...
lisby
(408 posts)Are you talking about the Plantagenet princes in the Tower some 500-odd years ago? I'm not recalling any other recently murdered princes. And this is germane to your position exactly how?
I must ask, do you actually know anything about life in the UK or how the British people, in the majority, feel about the royal family and its contribution to their culture and national pride? Don't be so rude and dismissive. In general, Brits don't moan and whinge about America's presidential clans (Adams, Kennedy, Roosevelt, Clinton, Bush) and urge Americans to do away with time-honored traditions and cultural linchpins because they're jolly bad or something. "Enough already" what? Follow the stellar U.S. model? In Britain, at least, the government actually does something positive a good portion of the time, as opposed to reading "Green Eggs and Ham" while trying to deprive its own citizens of healthcare, for goodness sake.
muriel_volestrangler
(101,154 posts)Good to know you think that an old woman should die, just to tidy things up for your personal satisfaction in another country.
maindawg
(1,151 posts)but you take from it what you like .poo poo........
Nye Bevan
(25,406 posts)Thank goodness we don't have that sort of thing in the USA.
Nye Bevan
(25,406 posts)Not to mention Prince Charles, etc.
Then of course there's corporate sponsorship. "Barclays Buckingham Palace" has a certain ring to it, for example.