keeping up appearances...I wonder how much it costs for the upkeep of everything, just to have a monarchy...
It's actually very cost effective - the government publishes the figures every year and I think it only costs somewhere in the region of a dollar for every man, woman, and child in the country to maintain the costs of the monarchy.
Also, considering the revenue they bring into the country's economy from the opening of stately homes, palaces, and general tourism etc, is
ninety times what it costs to maintain them, so I would say they're actually pretty good value for money.
And I'm not a royalist by any stretch.