www.celebitchy.com/773427/ORIGINALLALAJune 30, 2022 at 8:
am
These numbers are INSANE – The BRF lives in an alternate universe, to spend that much of public money during the current economic climate while Britons go without enough food or healthcare is just mind boggling..I hope people wake the eff up!! get rid of these bloviated losers!
Reply
GEEGEE
June 30, 2022 at 9:39 am
What are the British taxpayers getting for all this expense? A great big nothingburger in a sparkling dress.
Reply
SARAHCS
June 30, 2022 at 9:40 am
I’ve just checked and the current average salary is £38k (with a median of £26k). So yeah, when will we #abolishthemonarchy again?
Reply
COTTAGE CAT
June 30, 2022 at 12:54 pm
My God, he’s repulsive. The Middletons must want that Crown, badly
JAN90067
June 30, 2022 at 9:58 am
Considering UPKEEP for the residences is BUILT INTO the SG, *why* is no one asking why hasn’t BP been *kept up* in all the previous decades?? WHERE WAS THE MONEY DIVERTED?? It obviously wasn’t spent on the intended purposes. We know some went on a helicopter bribe for the Keens, but that’s a drop in the bucket. So, what else? WHY are they NEVER made to justify what they’re spending it on? Blanket terms like travel? What is hiding under that?
Reply
C
June 30, 2022 at 10:02 am
The royals successfully lobbied to made exempt from the Freedom of Information Act, so people can’t really make inquiries about their finances. The result is they’ll release the numbers and try to fudge them, but it speaks for itself.
LOST IN AUSTIN
June 30, 2022 at 2:22 pm
I’m guessing it doesn’t really cost 32K to travel around London to a movie premiere, but they’ve got to pad every entry to cover their costs in paying off Andrew and his victims.
SID
June 30, 2022 at 2:46 pm
Jan, I suspect QEII was squirreling away some of that money to help pay for the upkeep of the elderly relatives and old employees she had hidden away on various crown properties. Some of it is probably also going to the sex offender Andrew, to help up top trust funds of certain grandkids, etc. Similar to what C said, if my memory is right QEII is not required to give a full breakdown of exactly how the Sovereign Grant money is spent.
WIGLET WATCHER
June 30, 2022 at 3:26 pm
Jan
Hang with me because I’ll be scattered in my thoughts.
Years ago there was an article explaining specifics. The Queen needed more money for BP renos and there was nothing left in the allocated funds for BP renos yet nearly nothing was done. So she cut funding to a service for the disabled that helps them get transported to jobs. Security were lifting people in wheelchairs out of the building. It was insanity.
Anyway, there wasn’t enough in those dedicated BP funds because the money kept getting diverted. Deliveries enough times that it eventually went into a place that the Queen could access it and bam. Gone.
That’s how this happens so often.
If you can find the details for a timeline I’ve listed you’ll probably find the articles.
ELIZABETH
June 30, 2022 at 3:52 pm
The narrative they’re trying is utterly at odds with the actual math.
“The Queen will continue to tighten her belt as a post-pandemic credit crunch bites even at Buckingham Palace.” That’s their claim, BUT:
“Expenditure was £102.4 million last year – a rise of 17 per cent – … There was a 41 per cent increase in spending to £54.6 million on the renovations alone. The Sovereign Grant …remained static at £86.3 million.” Those are the facts (as reported by them so… lol).
A “rise,” an “increase” (of over 40%!), and even “remain[ing] static” do not mean “tightening the belt.” They are spending more or (in terms of the sovereign grant thing) the same, not less. Totally mendacious.
I can’t believe how using over a hundred million pounds in one year is supposed to be so frugal and careful. Especially as a significant portion of this (?) is taxpayer money!
Reply
PRINCESSK
June 30, 2022 at 8:
pm
This should be top news instead of the ridiculous bullying allegations nonsense.
Reply
K8ERADE
June 30, 2022 at 8:46 am
I need the media to freak out over these excessive travel expenses the same way they freaked out over the remodel of Frogmore. Especially helicopter expenses. I guarantee you the media in the UK will help the BRF cover this up…
Reply
KELS
June 30, 2022 at 8:55 am
They already are..not many seem to care….
Some Sussex fans are doing a good job of ignoring the “bully” report and reminding people of the costs but there’s too much apathy.
Reply
SIOBHAN
June 30, 2022 at 2:13 pm
I’m so curious how they come up with these numbers. Someone must have had to come into London by helicopter or chartered plain for that 30,000 pound figure to travel to the James Bond movie to make sense. I also agree that they are probably allocating the maintenance and overhead costs of having a helicopter amongst the few official functions that they use them to travel to/from. I wonder if they also allocate a portion of those overhead costs (maintenance etc.) to their personal use?
BLITHE
June 30, 2022 at 10:39 am
I still don’t understand all of the issues with refunding the money spent to renovate Frogmore Cottage. The house needed renovations anyway, although perhaps those renovations wouldn’t have returned the structure to its original plan as a single family home? The Sussexes had a short term lease. If they had not renewed their lease, they would have paid a considerable amount of money to some entity, for a property they don’t own, just because they decided to leave their jobs. Well, and because of the “public” outrage in the press.
I wonder if the total cost of renovations was much more than that — so that the Sussexes repaid money for customization— but not structural repairs? Are there precedents for these types of repayments? In any case, “repaying” millions, for a property they don’t own, and don’t even have a long term lease for, seems odd, and even odder now that I see how much other Royals spent to go to a movie. Perhaps it was simply one more effort to try to punish the Sussexes any way they could?
Reply
SHAWNA
June 30, 2022 at 11:52 am
I don’t think it EVER made sense for the Sussexes to repay the renovation costs. It was just an attempt to make it seem hypocritical when they first announced their desire to seek financial independence.
SANDY
June 30, 2022 at 11:14 am
YES BUT DO THEY HAVE 15 BATHROOMS? Or was it bedrooms? Who cares, clearly spending this cash doesn’t even raise the rotas eyebrow, compared to – insert anything m & h related here -.
🤣
Reply
TALIA
June 30, 2022 at 8:46 am
My first question is HOW!!
How can they spend £32,000 to go 5 or so miles across London? Even if they are taking into account Kate’s dress etc., I just can’t see how they managed to spend that much.
Reply
MAGGIE
June 30, 2022 at 8:52 am
When you pay staff barely a living wage I am sure they have ways of padding their salary… like a family member car service
Reply
MIM
June 30, 2022 at 9:08 am
This. When I was a consultant, they paid us OK wages, and allowed per diem expenses without receipts. The more seasoned consultants told us to max those out every day.
HARLA A BRAZEN HUSSY
June 30, 2022 at 8:52 am
I imagine that W&K were in Norfolk and had to helicopter in and back to Norfolk after the premiere. #abolishthemonarchy
Reply
BECKS1
June 30, 2022 at 8:57 am
Or one of them had to helicopter in….
MEGANC
June 30, 2022 at 9:39 am
The cost is so high I think it must include a private jet.
PC
June 30, 2022 at 10:08 am
@becks1, LOL!!!
SIOBHAN
June 30, 2022 at 2:16 pm
I assumed the same, they must have had to helicopter to/from Norfolk to attend.
SID
June 30, 2022 at 8:55 am
I read that apparently it’s just an 8 minute drive. That is an insane amount of money just for that. And apparently the security costs of the BRF are not included in this amount, so what was it for exactly?
Reply
IFORGET
June 30, 2022 at 8:59 am
It is, I put it in CityMapper and it’s a 10 minute walk. Sure, maybe they couldn’t walk for security reasons, but it’s a very very short drive. What on heckin earth are they paying for?!
BEANIEBEAN
June 30, 2022 at 9:49 am
When I travel for work as a government employee, my travel expenses include just that, the travel expenses: the actual transportation (plane ticket, taxi/rental car, gas), accommodations (government rate hotel room), and per diem (adjusted per location). My wages are not included. These numbers they’re giving us make no sense & need further explanation. Is this type of reporting truly all they have to do? Lump sum expenses? Because when my agency submits its annual report to Congress, there’s a lot more detail provided.
Reply
AANG
June 30, 2022 at 10:43 am
Security to close roads for a motorcade? That is all I can imagine. Maybe the London police charge $$$$ to close roads? Sweeping the venue for bombs? I have no idea how it can cost that much. Needs to itemized to see exactly where all that money goes. I have family that work for a defense contractor that also does private aerospace work and he says that any work done for the government is automatically upcharged because they will pay more than the private sector. So I’m guessing contractors see an easy target and the BRF doesn’t hagle.
Reply
SHAWNA
June 30, 2022 at 11:53 am
Did they pay for a brand-new car and then set it on fire?!
Reply
MY3CENTS
June 30, 2022 at 1:22 pm
I must have missed the part where they parachuted out of the plane, landed on top of the building and then escanded by rope down, a la James Bond style. That the only plausible explanation.
Reply
DEBBIE
June 30, 2022 at 7:20 pm
You forget the cost of paying someone to attach that dead possum onto Kate’s head. That’s gotta run into the thousands.
Reply
EQUALITY
June 30, 2022 at 8:48 am
A more in-depth report that details how exactly it costs thousands to travel such a short distance would be fascinating. What expenses are they hiding in those huge amounts?
Reply
BECKS1
June 30, 2022 at 8:51 am
Yeah, what was the basis for the cost of the trip? i’m sure that does not include Kate or Camilla’s wardrobe and someone else said that protection costs are not part of SG spending, so it wouldn’t be the RPOs either. closing down roads? IDK.
Reply
BECKS1
June 30, 2022 at 8:50 am
This is nutso.
so the SG remained static but expenditures were up. Who makes up that difference? Does more sovereign grant money kick in, under a different name or category?
There may be no “substitute” for physical engagements but it is definitely worth asking if the physical engagements are necessary. Why did W&K need to travel to Scotland in May 2021? Because Kate had a new plaid coat she wanted to wear? and IIRC they were only there for a handful of days.
The train, helicopter and plane expenditures are insane but the fact that it cost as much for the four to go to a James Bond premiere IN LONDON mere miles from W&K’s house (and i’m assuming fairly close to CH as well) as it did for the Queen to travel by train to Cornwall is just bonkers. And that premiere cost MORE than C&C’s plane for the Battle of Britain!!!! Like, WTF.
Reply
JAIS
June 30, 2022 at 8:56 am
I think I read the difference is made up by dipping into a reserve fund? Money they’ve put aside for a rainy day? I didn’t quite get the details. But so much craziness. All I can think is slimmed down monarchy? Yeah right. It doesn’t matter how many people are working royals if the few are spending like this.
Reply
FIRST COMMENT
June 30, 2022 at 8:55 am
A rise to the expenditure while there are less working royals and the country was “closed ” due to the pandemic for the most part?And what about renovations costs? Are the renovations of William ‘s third house included? And wasn’t it last year that the Sussexes returned the money to the sovereign grant forfrogmore, therefore the cost of the renovations should be less? To tell the truth, I don’t really know how this works that’s why I ask….Side note, this article from daily fail and people refers to the cost of Charles and the Queen’s travel but doesn’t mention anything about the costs of the cambridge’s travel…
Reply
SHAWNA
June 30, 2022 at 11:56 am
Maybe the DM is going to drop a separate article about the Cambridges’ expenses?
Or we’re about to get a nasty leak about Charles or Meghan….
Reply
S808
June 30, 2022 at 8:57 am
completely and utterly off topic but my goodness does kate look like a real housewife of norfolk or like she got lost on her way to the CMAs.
Reply
ROSINA
June 30, 2022 at 9:16 am
Kate always reminds me of a harder faced Hilarie Burton.
Reply
SUZIEQ
June 30, 2022 at 7:25 pm
Hilarie is so much prettier!
Kate’s updo reminds me of the one Kathleen Turner wore as Chandler’s dad to the Chandler-Monica wedding.
CHAINE
June 30, 2022 at 9:38 am
Dynasty-era Linda Evans style.
Reply
AANG
June 30, 2022 at 10:37 am
True but in my opinion that is a compliment. If you have to dress up might as well go ott.
BEANIEBEAN
June 30, 2022 at 9:
am
The higher the hair the closer to queen?
Reply
IFORGET
June 30, 2022 at 9:57 am
this comment 😀 😀 😀
JADED
June 30, 2022 at 12:35 pm
Las Vegas prom queen.
Reply
NEDSDAG
June 30, 2022 at 3:34 pm
More like “Attack of the Caesar’s Palace chandelier”.
Reply
DEBBIE
June 30, 2022 at 7:30 pm
Naw, I say Vegas, baby! Or, in the words of the inimitable Bea Arthur, I say she looks like the mother of a Solid Gold dancer.
Ah! @jaded: I wrote Vegas before I saw your post. Great minds.
Reply
GIRL_NINJA
June 30, 2022 at 8:58 am
I don’t understand the costs. How can they be spending so damn much? There needs to be a break down of why it is so expensive.
Reply
MSLOVE
June 30, 2022 at 9:04 am
Its important that the citizens pay taxes to the monarchy, as the monarchy provides protection to their subjects from invaders. Oh wait…..
Reply
AMY BEE
June 30, 2022 at 9:05 am
They really went all out for that Bond premiere. It was like they wanted to prove something to Harry and Meghan. But I don’t understand why it cost over £30,000 to travel to the premiere. We need a break down of those numbers.
Reply
E.A
June 30, 2022 at 9:08 am
Even when Meghan and Harry was around I was really tired of hearing the cost every year get rid of the royal family or stop discussing money. As a British person there’s really this culture obsession with money. i.e royal family spending or just general population who are on benefit, its a tedious cultural discussion every year.
Reply
FIRST COMMENT
June 30, 2022 at 9:14 am
Unfortunately, getting rid of the monarchy is quite difficult for Britain due to a number of factors..I agree that it is tedious to talk about the costs but at the end of the day, there must be some sort of accountability for them
Reply
E.A
June 30, 2022 at 9:30 am
oh I understand I’m British and indifferent about the family, but its the same discussion similar to when Meghan first arrived and the cost of her engagement dress, I mean I’m getting married to a prince when else can I wear really expensive engagement what’s the point of royalty if I can’t even wear expensive clothing etc. Truthfully its a mixture of envious rather than how much tax goes into the family, again the same with people on benefit they are not allowed to have nice things, we pay for you no nice things keep it to minimal. I guess Im just over money discussion.
C
June 30, 2022 at 9:50 am
What? It’s not the same at all. Meghan married into this family with money of her own and she was treated like a golddigger. The discussion of the money about her dresses from people defending her centered on why it was fair for Charles to open his coffers for Kate’s unlimited wardrobe and not Meghan’s, not whether it was fair for money to be spent on Meghan and other royals. Now she is back to paying for her own clothes with her money.
As for the rest- I don’t know….This is where your money is going. If you find the conversation tedious that all this is being spent on people you don’t even elect (and when I paid taxes there I found it irritating indeed) then that’s your prerogative I guess. The conversations about dole scroungers are manufactured to defend the existence of this family sitting on top of stolen jewels and land. It’s bad enough to be paying for corrupt officials in Washington in the US, but at least we’re not paying for a whole other second set that not only is unelected but their privileges are hereditary, is how I see it.
JT
June 30, 2022 at 10:02 am
I honestly believe that Meg was paying for her own wardrobe. The cost for Charles the year she married in hardly went up all. It was basically the same and we know that the palace told her to keep working because “there wasn’t enough money for her.” I think she, or Harry, paid for the engagement dress themselves.
C
June 30, 2022 at 10:03 am
JT- I absolutely wouldn’t be surprised. Charles said he was still funding their security even when he’d cut them off. I would not put it past him to lie and say he paid for her clothes and then never did.
JADED
June 30, 2022 at 12:38 pm
Meghan came into that marriage a millionaire. I’m sure she paid for most of her clothing herself, and as a reminder, Charles suggested she go back to work as an actress so she wasn’t a drain on the royal coffers.
BUBS
June 30, 2022 at 11:20 am
How swell to be able to be over discussions about money, especially when that money is coming out of the taxpayers pockets in the midst of a cost of living crisis! 14 million pounds more in a year that saw them financing 3 less royals (no Harry, Meg or Philip!) Must be nice!
Reply
SHAWNA
June 30, 2022 at 12:03 pm
Of course, the conversation has to be annual by necessity. They became necessary when the Civil List was replaced by the Sovereign Grant in 2011. IIRC, the periodic reports of where the money went last year are necessary to set the next year’s grant size, in addition to seeing how much revenue the Crown Estates generated over the last year. So I see why you can perceive it as tedious because it’s a very predictable, always renewed conversation…but it really has to happen.
Reply
DEE
June 30, 2022 at 12:07 pm
I’ve heard how entangled the monarchy is in the laws of Britain, but you might just cut funding for them and they will extract themselves.
Reply
LUCY2
June 30, 2022 at 9:13 am
But H&M’s house has a lot of bathrooms!!!!! 15, 30, 102 bathrooms!!!!
BRF costs are insane. I get they can’t just catch a taxi or walk down the street, but FFS it shouldn’t cost that much to drive a couple people to a movie premiere, and if it does, DON’T GO.
Reply
DEBBIE
June 30, 2022 at 7:
pm
I wonder if they have a budget, either a yearly budget they can spend or if they’re given a monthly 6 or 7 figure stipend from Charles. That would be one way of controlling costs – that is, if they are truly interested in doing that.
Reply
C-SHELL
June 30, 2022 at 9:15 am
Expenditures went up with two fewer royals “working.” It’s obscene.
Reply
NOOR
June 30, 2022 at 9:17 am
32k for A 8 MIN CAR RIDE. THE SENSE OF ENTITLEMENT IS ASTONISHING. Taxpayers should be asking why they are paying for helicopter rides for William and Kate to and from their Norfolk country residence to Kensington Palace.
Since Kensington Palace is their official residence, trips to and Norfolk should be borne by William and Kate and not the taxpayers.
Reply
INGE KERSTEN
June 30, 2022 at 9:28 am
I checked Google Maps when I read about the GBP32000. The premiere was at the Royal Albert Hall. Royal Albert Hall is 4 min from KP by car(11 min if you walk) and 8 min by car from Clarence House. How does this add up?!
Reply
LADY ESTHER
June 30, 2022 at 12:41 pm
One possible explanation is someone was using the helicopter from Norfolk, and another person was using the helicopter from Berkshire. Separately….
Reply
JANEBEE
June 30, 2022 at 3:15 pm
@lady Esther +1 to this explanation. Although a car must have been used by TOB+K at some point (back to KP afterwards?) as we have those ‘lovey dovey’, not at all posed/photoshopped pics of them together in a back seat from the night of the Bond premier.
HEATHERC
June 30, 2022 at 5:30 pm
That’s a lot of real human hair extensions weaved into a rat’s nest and stuck on the back of Keen’s head…..that’s all I got.
Reply
HANNAH
June 30, 2022 at 9:33 am
For context, £32K is not too far off the mark for my annual salary working in PR in London. I’ve been working for almost 7 years, since finishing Uni & an internship
Reply
SARAHCS
June 30, 2022 at 9:45 am
I commented above on the current mean/median salaries in the UK. It’s grotesque. We need these comparisons to make the numbers mean something tangible. I just travelled to Mallorca and back (with a case in the hold – we didn’t hold back) for £236. Give me £32k that I’m only allowed to spend on travel and I’ll show you what you can do with that!
Reply
BEANIEBEAN
June 30, 2022 at 9:57 am
When I worked for the NPS in Hawaii & traveled to the mainland for work purposes, my trips usually cost about $2,000. Didn’t matter which part of the country, and usually for a week’s stay. $2,000. If I ever submitted a voucher for $32,000 (and I’m sure 32k pounds is a lot more), I’d lose my job. Granted, that’s a lump sum for four royals, but still. Are they seriously pretending they’re demonstrating some sort of accountability? Because this raises more questions than it answers.
Just checked the exchange rate. 32k pounds is roughly 40 thousand bucks. 40,000!!
SHAWNA
June 30, 2022 at 12:07 pm
You feel like you splurged because you paid to check your luggage! It would be funny if it wasn’t so sad and enraging.
/