In Britain, £1.29 (A$2.30) can buy you roughly a quarter of a cheese toastie, three quarters of a packet of chocolate Hobnobs or your country’s very own monarchy, at least for person
This figure is how much the House of Windsor costs every man, woman and child in the UK and it really is a bargain. For just a little more than a box of home-brand tea bags, Brits get their own real-life king and all the pomp and ceremony to boot.
Adding to the question of value, the argument here is generally that the Royal Family brings in $1.7 billion in tourism revenue every year (assuming there aren’t planeloads of Americans visiting the UK for Cadbury World or to store them). over expensive Fortnum & Mason jam).
Buckingham Palace and all who navigate it, by this line of thinking, is an incredibly valuable addition not only to British life but to the country’s balance sheet. Beep Beep!
But the thing about the royal family is that this picture changes, drastically, depending on which members you look at.
I will tell you a story about two princesses.
First up on the blogs is the formidable Princess Anne (fan number one here), a woman who has a seemingly endless supply of mustard colored wool dresses that look like they were bought in bulk when Edward Heath was Prime Minister.
In October he undertook two investitures, 37 engagements and managed to squeeze in work trips to the US and Uganda. Assuming her monthly allowance from the Duchy of Lancaster, the sovereign’s private estate, is the same as Prince Andrew’s of $37,325 ($447,900 or £250,000 a year), this equates to Princess Anne being “paid” $1,008 for each year way out.
Now, that same time period represented Kate’s first full month in her new role as Princess of Wales. Based on the court circular, the official daily record of royal activity, he managed to squeeze in eight engagements, including some meetings at Windsor Castle on the road home and a quick visit to Northern Ireland with her husband William.
So if we apply the same math formula, dividing the monthly income that she and her husband William, Prince of Wales receive from the Duchy of Cornwall ($37.6 million per year and $3.13 million per month) for the total number of sorties they made on behalf of the Crown (eight each, so 16 in all) and get $195,833 per engagement.
And that right here is a problem. A serious problem.
The fact that William and Kate are raising $195,833 for, say, a meeting with one of the heads of their charity is unpalatable at a time when the country is suffering its biggest cost-of-living crisis in decades and the UK is getting ready. for a hellish winter of skyrocketing electricity bills.
Of course, I know the royals have much bigger threats to worry about right now, with Prince Harry’s autobiography, For spare, hitting shelves in early January and he and his wife Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex’s mystery Netflix series debuting sometime soon. (Not to mention the fact that the new season of The Crown is about to introduce a new generation to Tampongate).
However, with the passing of Queen Elizabeth in September and the arrival of King Charles, the monarchy is at a crossroads and, while the early signs are good, with Her Majesty enjoying a certain amount of good will of his mother, is still an unproven quantity. which has yet to really prove itself in the top job.
This means that in the coming months, once the misty-eyed affection for the late Queen has dissipated and a new scandal has hit Her Majesty, it is likely that not only the 73-year-old but the entire monarchy come for a period of public re-evaluation and re-evaluation.
(In a strange way, Charles is fortunate that Harry and Meghan’s various antics have largely obscured, in the press and on social media, a couple of revelations surrounding the king’s charity work. First , which accepted a donation of $4.65 million in bags of cash from a Qatari politician and, in another case, a $1.7 million donation from the family of Osama bin Laden Meanwhile, his charity Prince’s Trust is being investigated by London police over an alleged cash-for-honours scheme).
Which brings us back to Kate. She now holds one of the highest and highest titles in the royal pantheon, and the last title she will hold before becoming queen herself.
So how did he approach his first calendar month in this elevated role? How did you decide to start your career as a princess?
Managing to squeeze in an average of two days of work a week, where ‘work’ might simply consist of making a phone call or sitting in a meeting where they’re offered tea and biscuits (I guess). Inexpensive things.
Now, I know the princess has three young children and has recently moved out of the family’s four floors of Kensington Palace in Wales for the relatively modest four-bedroom Adelaide Cottage, but come on The woman has staff not to mention a full-time nanny at her disposal.
Here’s the real kicker: Kate’s very modest workload constitutes full-time royal duties. Let this sink in.
There was a good two-week stretch in October, which smoothly covered the British half-term school holidays, and Kate often takes advantage of the school holidays. On the one hand I have great sympathy for any parent who is able to do that, but on the other hand…he has a 1,000+ year old institution to go on.
Situations like this only reinforce the worst image of the royal family as privileged and work-shy.
This is, of course, a decidedly bad look, especially for a royal family with dwindling numbers of working members and facing a skeptical younger generation.
In a September poll, just a third (32%) of 18-24-year-olds said they thought the monarchy was good for Britain, with a very similar number (27%) saying the they saw it as a bad thing. And nearly the same number think the royal family has bad value (39%) as good value (40%).
A Princess of Wales showing up for work, at least in public, as often as a reality show judge whose job it is to push a big red button is hardly the way to change those numbers.
The House of Windsor faces a battle for the hearts and minds of the youngest. I know there is more to Kate’s agenda than is recorded in the Court Circular, such as planning meetings and briefings, but perception is very important here.
The Princess’s Early Years Foundation and the Prince’s Earthshot Award are innovative and exciting projects that can have a real impact and change lives.
We hope they do, because Kate and, more importantly, Charles, can’t afford any family members to be seen as idlers enjoying the perks of royal life.
Really, the number one mantra for anyone with a SAR should be, “what would Princess Anne do?”
Never, ever, “what would Princess Anne wear?”
There’s only so much mustard seed that royal commentators and the public can hack through.
Daniela Elser is a royal writer and commentator with over 15 years’ experience working with several of Australia’s leading media titles.