The Royal Family: Drain or Gain? You Might Be Surprised

Wiki Commons photo

It’s an everyday lament amongst us Commonwealthers: the Royal Family are such an incredible expense! Why do we, year after year, continue to recognize a monarch in the 21st century? What good comes from the British people paying for a ceremonial head of state who has not been elected? Is it worth it?

Seeing as it’s Victoria Day, I thought it might be the perfect day to explore this issue a little deeper.

So, what does the royal family actually cost the average Briton? Well, the short answer is 40 million British pounds per year. That sounds like a lot. Actually, it breaks down to about a buck twenty-two in Canadian dollars, per British person, each year the Royals stick around. That may not sound as bad as you thought, but I’d bet there are a lot of people living in the UK who wouldn’t mind that $1.22 back for every year they’ve paid it.

There’s a lot more to it than that, though. The Royals are also a source of huge profits for the British government. We’re talking massive profits. Profits that dwarf the expenses. In fact, everyone’s taxes in the UK are lower due to the revenue brought in by the Royal family.

Try as I might, I could never sum it up for you as well as celebrated YouTuber, CGP Grey. Let’s take a listen to what he has to say:

Yeah. Suddenly 40 million pounds doesn’t seem like so much anymore, does it? I guess it makes sense why the UK keeps these relics from another time around, so raise your pint to Queen Victoria today and rest assured, the British people are better off with their royals.