Britons pay more for the Queen - calls for "reform"
2008-10-17 17:58:13

وكالة الأنباء السعودية - واس

London, June 27 , SPA -- Britain's royal family cost the taxpayer 40 million
pounds (80 million dollars) last year, an expense equivalent to the
price for two litres of milk or an MP3 player download per person,
Buckingham Palace said Friday, according to dpa.
The costs between March 2007 and 2008 were up by 2 million pounds
compared with the previous financial year, due to rising expenses for
overseas trips and an increase in maintenance costs.
The total was equivalent to 66 pence per person in Britain, an
increase of 4 pence, said the palace.
The amount spent on royal travel rose by 600,000 pounds to 6.2
million pounds, caused mainly by a trip to the US in May 2007.
Buckingham Palace officials described the cost of the royal family
to taxpayers as "less than the price of two pints of milk or an MP3
player download."

Anti-royal campaign group Republic Friday repeated its demand for
reforms to royal spending.
While Britons were told to tighten their belts because of the
credit crunch, "the Windsor family digs deeper into the taxpayers'
pockets," spokesman Graham Smith said.
Smith called for the Queen to be paid a salary and the monarchy to
be budgeted and accounted for in the same way as all other government
departments or public bodies.
--SPA

المصدر http://www.spa.gov.sa/details.php?id=568996