First it was Charles, now it’s the entire clan. The annual Civil List report has been published with the usual arguments surfacing about the role of the monarchy as an accompaniment. But let’s look at the facts first.
The Royal Family cost the UK taxpayer 69p each in the 2008/9 financial year, a 3p rise on the 2007/8 financial year with the total cost rising by £1.5m to £41.5m. The accounts show that the Queen used £6m from a reserve fund to supplement the Civil List due to rising costs in the running of the Royal Household and indeed, there’s been increases in almost every department. Staff salaries, catering and hospitality, Royal travel and ceremonial functions all saw a rise in their bill but the Palace have pointed out that there are legitimate reasons for the increases.
They say that as for Royal travel, the rise in cost is explained by the overseas tours conducted by the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall on the request of the Government and by the unusual visit to Tonga by the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester for the coronation of King George Tupou V. They also say that RAF aircraft are now limited in their avaliability which means that the Palace have to use alternative services to transport the Royals to their official engagements. The Queen has recieved £7.9m each year which was secured in 1990 by former Prime Minister Sir John Major, but this was frozen and banned from any increase by the Tony Blair administration in 1990 to compensate for what they claim was 10 years of over-payment. The current financial deal will come up for negotiation in 2010, but financial experts have noted that if these rises continue, the Royals could see themselves in the red even before that date. Read more…
At the request of Tokyo’s Governor Shintaro Ishihara, Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso has asked Crown Prince Naruhito and his wife, Crown Princess Masako, to represent Tokyo’s bid to host the 2016 Summer Olympic Games. (See also this post.) He has invited them to accompany Tokyo’s bid officials to Copenhagen where the vote on the host for the 2016 Olympic Games will take place on October 2. In the past, the support of heads of state, like Tony Blair for London 2012 or Vladimir Putin for Sochi 2014, has played an important role in bringing the Olympic Games home to their cities. Accordingly, Tokyo’s rivals for the Olympics 2016, Chicago, Madrid and Rio de Janeiro, are rumoured to have asked their respective heads of state to attend. This is why Tokyo governor Shintaro Ishihara, the head of the Olympic bid committee, has deemed it “absolutely necessary to solicit kind help from the imperial family for the benefit of the Japanese people and for the history of Japan.” Read more…
Tokyo’s Olympic bid committee will be soliciting help from Japan’s imperial royal family for its bid campaign that was launched last month by Prime Minister Taro Aso. The final decision about the Olympic host 2016 will be taken by the International Olympic Committee on October 2nd. Tokyo’s committee will make a formal request through the government for Crown Prince Naruhito and Crown Princess Masako to present the city’s bid on the day before.
The request of the Tokyo committee for support from the imperial family has been rendered necessary as rival cities can boast high profile public figures representing their case, including Barack Obama for Chicago and King Juan Carlos for Madrid. Within this context, Prince Naruhito and Princess Masako are probably the very members of the imperial family whose help might increase Tokyo´s chances the most. Ivan Hall, a former professor at the law faculty of Gakushuin University, has once said about the couple: “They are among the more open-minded, liberal people in the country today because of their education and the time they came to intellectual maturity. They represent a monarchy that the whole world can be comfortable with.” Read more…
It has been confirmed that HM Queen Elizabeth II has been invited to attend the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver as a guest of honour. As yet, there has been no official response to the invitation, however, if it is accepted, it is some sources suggest that HM would open the Olympic Games on February 12 2010. This is far from certain however, with other reports stating that while HM is expected to visit Canada next year, it will not be during the Olympic Games. Regardless of whether the Queen makes it to the Games, she will be represented, as Canada’s Governor General will be attending.
Some online media are also speculating that HRH The Prince of Wales has expressed an interest in attending the Games.
Madrid is back as a candidate city to host the 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games, and Their Majesties the King and Queen of Spain want to give all their “royal” support. With that aim, King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia will preside over the Spanish delegation that will travel to Copenhagen, Denmark, on October 2nd, where the announcement of the 2016 host city will take place. Madrid will compete with cities such as Chicago (President Obama will also be supporting his city in Copenhagen), Tokyo and Rio de Janeiro.
Next week, the IOC Evaluation Committee will visit Madrid in order to carry out a detailed technical evaluation of the city, and Their Majesties will probably host a special reception for the committee as they did the last time, when Madrid was a candidate city, when the city bid for the 2012 Olympics, which went to London.
All the members of the Spanish Royal Family are great sports fans, and some of them, have even competed in the Olympics, like Queen Sofia, who, then Princess Sofia, represented Greece in sailing at the 1960 Summer Olympics.
A high-profile crusade has been launched to stop the Olympic equestrian events taking place at Greenwich in 2012. NOGOE accuses the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games (LOCOG) of being ‘inconsistent and inept’ and says that to close Greenwich Park for six to eight weeks while the cross-country course and a 23-seat arena are being built is ‘socially unjust in a relatively deprived inner-city area’ and would cost £17 million.
The campaigners also raise concerns about damage to the turf, to ancient trees and to a Roman archaeological site, and points out that closing 44 roads and 27 bus routes.
Princess Haya, president of the International Equestrian Federation (FEI), has said that British negativity about Greenwich is damaging the sport, and she has highlighted the risk to equestrianism of staying within the Olympic movement. The FEI was quick to respond to NOGOE, saying: ‘‘We would like to reiterate our confidence in LOCOG to ensure that environmental considerations and the local community are placed at the top of the agenda.’
Zara Phillips, has been quoted this week as saying that the Olympic equestrian events should relocate to Windsor, a proven competition site that is hosting the European Jumping and Dressage Championships in August.
First it was Charles, now it’s the entire clan. The annual Civil List report has been published with the usual arguments surfacing about the role of the monarchy as an accompaniment. But let’s look at the facts first.
At the request of Tokyo’s Governor Shintaro Ishihara, Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso has asked Crown Prince Naruhito and his wife, Crown Princess Masako, to represent Tokyo’s bid to host the 2016 Summer Olympic Games. (See also this 
Madrid is back as a candidate city to host the 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games, and Their Majesties the King and Queen of Spain want to give all their “royal” support. With that aim, King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia will preside over the Spanish delegation that will travel to Copenhagen, Denmark, on October 2nd, where the announcement of the 2016 host city will take place. Madrid will compete with cities such as Chicago (President Obama will also be supporting his city in Copenhagen), Tokyo and Rio de Janeiro.
