CGP Grey
1 HN recommender · recommended in 7 months, 2013–2022
4:31 · 6.8M views · Apr 19, 2011
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.
HN commenters cite it in monarchy debates as the explainer claiming the royals make money for the UK, with some disputing it.
10 comments from Hacker News
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. this video Also, check out his channel, he does loads of amazing videos. [LINK]
The crown as a private entity gives more money to the state than it receives this 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
The True Cost of the Royal Family Explained, video by CGP Grey: this video too long; didn't watch: The royal family likely contributes quite significantly to the popularity of the UK tourism industry, which brings in FAR more money to the country than the institution costs to maintain, even considering all the royal salaries to pay, the palaces to maintain, public events to produce, security, etc. They also lease out a great amount of land to the country - to the wide benefit of the entire populace - for pennies of what it would cost the nation to purchase such land and resources outright.
It’s a good tourist attraction, to be entirely fair, it’s just that the extended royal family quickly descends into situations like these. You could also make the argument that profits from royal-owned land – which is handed over to Parliament in return for a fixed salary – saves each UK citizen over £2 in taxes per year [1]. [1] this video
I'm not sure that I agree. If you look at this video ( this video ) you'll see just how much money they make for the UK. I'm also quite sure that most of the Royal Family do more work than most people do.