The Queen's Secret (6)

The marriage of Prince William and Kate Middleton was held in 2011 simultaneous with the economic crisis in Europe, when many people had become jobless and were grappling with poverty.

The British royal family spent 48 million dollars for the wedding ceremony and the state-run media like BBC tried to ameliorate the destructive effects of monarchic system and aristocratic rule via putting the news of the wedding on the headline. Nevertheless, at least 27 dissidents were arrested by the police on charges of "sabotaging the wedding ceremony". Daily Mail wrote that 20 million pounds were spent only for the security of the ceremony.

According to the website of Guardian newspaper, in early 2017, due to the decision of the British government the revenues of Buckingham Palace more than doubled and totalled 82 million and 200 thousand pounds. In November 2016, the government had announced that the revenues of the palace from the taxpayers would increase from 15 to 25 percent and while most of these revenues are spent on the royal trips. In 2016, more than 4.5 million pounds were spent for a single trip of the royal family. This extravagant expenditure is just part of the extravagant lifestyle of the residents of Buckingham Palace which the British media like BBC never pay attention to. BBC and the similar media only engage in covering the cavalcade which is held on streets for hours.

The greatest criticism on the British monarchic family is that they impose very heavy costs on taxpayers. While the British government has taken austerity measures and hugely cut the budget of public services, especially the welfare sector, the British people are asked to maintain the gargantuan expenses of Buckingham Palace which amount to hundreds of millions of dollars. The costs of repairing the palace have been estimated at $460 million.

Some moves have begun against the laws pertaining to the monarch and the royal family. The Guardian stirred a campaign against the Succession Act. According to this act, no non-Protestant Christian is entitled to ascend the throne as the monarch. Another law is the Act of Treason. According to this act, any debate about the establishment of a republic in the UK is considered as treason.

The efforts of free activists have led to debates of republicanism since 2003, although no practical measure is permissible in this regard. In spite of media censoring, the republican wave has been molded into a group called Republic. Republic has announced that the state-run BBC reports are biased on the issues related to the royal family. Graham Smith, the executive director of the group, after broadcasting of the Queen documentary by BBC, wrote a letter to head of the BBC board of trustees Chris Patten, announcing that BBC has breached impartiality. BBC vehemently rejected the accusation and stressed that it is a "neutral" media. But a few weeks later, Republic group proved its claim via exposing internet correspondences of one of the documentary producers with a BBC staffer in Australia. The producers of the coronation program had announced via an e-mail that they want to cover the event quite unilaterally. The e-mail had announced that none of the opponents of monarchy would be permitted to express their opinion in the program. They had also stressed that they intend to talk to the people who respect the Queen and that they do not like to hear improper personal remarks about the Queen.

In 2008, the British Republicans started a movement with the aim of presenting a replacement for the oath of allegiance to the Queen. Some of the officials and individuals, who have just got the British citizenship, are obliged to take the oath of allegiance. This, while the oath by God is omitted. The efforts of the British MPs have failed 4 times to present a replacement for the oath. Republicans believe that the royal family's financial affairs lack adequate transparency and the family is not accountable for expenses. Republicans insist that the financial affairs of the royal family should be examined independently by the National Audit Office just like other government organs. They also stress that the royal family's exemption from freedom of information must be annulled. A report by the Republic group indicated that the expenses of the monarchy as a whole amount to more than 200 million pounds annually. In other words, the British taxpayers pay 30 times more to an employee of the royal family than they pay for a soldier in Afghanistan. The Republican movement is a young trend in the UK. However, the media sympathizing with monarchy such as BBC exert their utmost in the process of face-saving for the Queen and the royal family and vilifying and undermining the Republican movement. 

RM/ME