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The True Cost of the Royal Family Explained

CGP Grey · 6.8M views · 2011-04-19 · 4:31

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Overview

CGP Grey breaks down what the British Royal Family costs the UK versus what it brings in, including income from royal-owned land. He concludes the government nets a profit from the arrangement.

On Hacker News

HN commenters cite it in monarchy debates as the explainer claiming the royals make money for the UK, with some disputing it.

Recommended by 1 HN people across 1 months · HN mentions 2013–2022

Topics

Politics & history (other)Macroeconomics & financial crises
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What people said

TamDenholm · 2013-04 · Recommendation

Pretty interesting and i agree with all the points. One thing about the monarchy is the argument that they cost a lot. CGP Grey did a video explaining the true cost of the monarchy. [VIDEO] Also, check out his channel, he does loads of amazing videos. [LINK]

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hateful · 2022-09 · Reference

From what I understand, if the royal family was abolished, taxes would go up, not down according to this video. [VIDEO]

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afiori · 2022-07 · Reference

The crown as a private entity gives more money to the state than it receives [VIDEO] I do not have primary sources but according to GPC Grey in the video the royal family receives £45 millions and gives ~£200 millions In the same sense that the queen is the richest person in the UK it is also true that almost the entirety of her possession are handled (and profited) by the state. Quoting Wikipedia: [LINK] > On his accession, the Crown lands produced relatively little income; most revenue was generated through taxes and excise duties. George surrendered the Crown Estate to Parliamentary control in return for a civil list annuity for the support of his household and the expenses of civil government I have no opinion on the british royal family and honestly I don't see them keeping the title for more than two other generations, but it does not look like they are (currently) bleeding the country

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Sources

Video by CGP Grey, played through YouTube.

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