Economic benefits outweigh the costs with royal family

Even the most avid royal watcher would have trouble picking Jack Brooksbank out in a crowd, but next month he becomes part of Britain's premier family when he marries Princess Eugenie at Windsor.
Ian HartIan Hart
Ian Hart

The upcoming royal nuptials have already hit the news even before the bride walks down the aisle with Prince Andrew – initially it was revealed that the BBC had passed up the opportunity to televise the day, although other TV channels are still believed to be interested, and then it was reported that the £2million security and related costs would be paid for by the taxpayer.

That kind of news will always prompt heated discussions – in this country there is no grey area when it comes to the royal family.

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The sometime vocal minority who are against the monarchy were quick to come out last week, complaining about the taxpayer having to pick up the tab for the event.

Princess Eugenie will be getting married in St George's Chapel at Windsor CastlePrincess Eugenie will be getting married in St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle
Princess Eugenie will be getting married in St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle

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On the face of it, do they have a point? Princess Eugenie carries out no royal engagements and, to be fair, her and her intended could probably walk the length of Montague Street hand-in-hand and not that many people would know who she was.

But then again she is of royal descent, and as a staunch monarchist I’m of the opinion that the Queen and her family represent everything that it good about this country.

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On the face of it the security costs do sound quite high, but the taxpayer funds all aspects of security costs.

All marches, for example – the English Defence League, the women’s movement, anti-war protests and others – are paid for by the public purse, without any return from the relevant organisations.

On the flip side official figures revealed that, in 2017, the royal family brought in a staggering £1.8billion to the British economy.

When that comes into the equation can anyone really complain about the public purse financing wedding security?

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