Does A 'Princess' Really Need Our Sympathy?

The Royal family. They cost the taxpayer about £40 million per year. On the other hand, they bring in some much-needed tourist revenue. It is difficult to quantify how much, since a hypothetical American tourist may visit Buckingham Palace but not actually hope to see the Queen. The palace itself is owned by the British public and the soldiers out front in their distinctive uniforms and hats are paid by the taxpayer. How much the Royal family contribute to this situation is unclear since if the monarchy were disbanded, Buckingham Palace would not be torn down: its history would still attract tourists.

Many members of the Royal Family have significantly questionable backgrounds and behaviour, for example the Duke of Edinburgh’s racist gaffes, Prince Harry’s Nazi SS-officer costume wearing and Prince Andrew’s embarrassing business associates / pimping ex-wife. The Royals have recently pushed to the fore Prince William as the more respectable face of the monarchy, with his fiancée Kate Middleton. The concept of having a ‘royal family’ alone is pretty offensive, with its suggestion of a social hierarchy, genetic superiority / significance and those that are ‘born-to-rule’ – even if we have long stopped them doing so.

Even the least offensive members of the establishment, as embodied in Prince William and Kate Middleton, still annoy by trying to court us through the tabloids. Prince William is presented as a helicopter pilot and Kate Middleton as bullied private school student and ‘working’ nobility. We shouldn’t have to be told that William and Kate ‘work’: it should be a standard expectation of anyone in the modern world. We should also cringe at the idea of their bank accounts being credited with future tax payers' money while they play at needing a job. William is a co-pilot, meaning he has the least essential job on the aircraft. He is neither responsible for primarily flying the helicopter or is the crew member lowered down the mountainside on a cable. Kate has been ‘bullied’ at her expensive, private school. She will no doubt get the sympathies of hundreds of thousands of people now, on top of her expensive education and the kind of royal connections it has allowed her to foster. That is a great deal more than the vast majority of school girls out there, who are being bullied, and don't have parents inclined to move them to another such elite institution. It demonstrates a clear lack of awareness of her position in the social scheme. Despite not being a ‘princess’ yet, when you read between the lines (instead of blindly adoring her), Kate Middleton’s egocentricity seems perfectly in check.

Should we get rid of the Royal family? I don’t think that is necessary, but I do think that such a redundant artefact of a previous age should be allowed to die out under the steam of its own finances – not ours.