# Princess Diana's butler ~ What a meatpickle! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [November 11, 2002, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/princess-dianas-butler-what-a-meatpickle/136296 "2002-11-11T17:32:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Reuben](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/54ee81/32.png) [@Reuben](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reuben)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2002, 8:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/princess-dianas-butler-what-a-meatpickle/136296/41 "2002-11-14T08:51:27Z")
Why does it have to have a ‘use’? Why isn’t it enough that it is the grandest of grand old institutions and the very essence of Britishness? (dang - 19 words) Perhaps that _is_ it’s use… as a big important part of our cultural identity and heritage. And it doesn’t actually [cost us anything at all.](http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/low/uk/1411781.stm) ---
**Author:** ![Crusoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/49beb7/32.png) [@Crusoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crusoe)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2002, 9:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/princess-dianas-butler-what-a-meatpickle/136296/42 "2002-11-14T09:02:42Z")
Well, except for Civil List spending of £7.9m pa. And the Property Services grant-in-aid of £15.5m for 2001/2. And the £6.01m Royal Travel grant-in-aid. [Well, a total of £35.3m anyway for 2001/2.](http://www.royal.gov.uk/output/page433.asp) It’s not much by comparison with other public organisations and institutions that nobody complains about, but it’s nothing to sneeze about either. I’ve always been curious as to whether there have been any studies into tourism revenue directly attributable to the existence of royal buildings maintained by public monies. Anyone have any ideas? ---
**Author:** ![Crusoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/49beb7/32.png) [@Crusoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crusoe)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2002, 9:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/princess-dianas-butler-what-a-meatpickle/136296/43 "2002-11-14T09:03:46Z")
Sorry. Those figures excluded police and army security for the royal family. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2002, 10:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/princess-dianas-butler-what-a-meatpickle/136296/44 "2002-11-14T10:31:26Z")
You’re also forgetting the tax that is being withheld from Royal rents (think Duchy of Cornwall etc.). They only pay on a voluntary basis. IIRC, Charles reduced his from 25% to 10% when he married Di, and never upped it again. ---
**Author:** ![Kal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9de053/32.png) [@Kal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kal)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2002, 10:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/princess-dianas-butler-what-a-meatpickle/136296/45 "2002-11-14T10:57:10Z")
**Shirley Ujest** , if it wasn’t for the monarchy our newspapers would be pamphlets. > [@](#): > > _Originally posted by jjimm_ > For this reason I favour a ‘cycling monarchy’ a la Norway, rather than our current overprivileged toffee-nosed gits. I’m more in favour of a ‘taken to the middle of a forest and shot in the head monarchy’ a la Russia. Hey, there ya go **Shirley** , another use for them: Target practice. ---
**Author:** ![Reuben](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/54ee81/32.png) [@Reuben](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reuben)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2002, 11:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/princess-dianas-butler-what-a-meatpickle/136296/46 "2002-11-14T11:38:19Z")
God DAMN it, vBulletin is such a piece of shit! A nice long eloquent well-thought out post that would make a monarchist out of Cromwell, and I forgot to copy it somewhere safe before entrusting it to this infernal bugware that loses everything if you preview when not logged in. It’ll have to wait until this evening. Bah! ---
**Author:** ![Aro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b3f665/32.png) [@Aro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aro)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2002, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/princess-dianas-butler-what-a-meatpickle/136296/47 "2002-11-14T13:55:44Z")
**Crusoe** , it’s not much, but here’s a cite (out of date)with a little on Royal inspired tourism…[Here…](http://213.86.179.120/news/media-brief12.htm) > [@](#): > > FACTS AND FIGURES > > Visiting heritage sites is the most popular pastime for overseas holidaymakers in Britain. > Attendances at leading properties in 1998 were approximately: > > Tower of London 2,551,000 > > Windsor Castle 1,495,000 > > Hampton Court Palace 605,000 > > Buckingham Palace 329,000 > > Palace of Holyroodhouse, Edinburgh 288,000 > > Add to these the number of attendances at other royal properties such as Kensington Palace, Sandringham House in Norfolk; Balmoral Castle in Scotland, and the total is well over 5 million. > \*\*Pageantry/history/ceremonials are the third most attractive reason to visit London, with 20% of overseas visitors citing it as a particularly attractive aspect of London. \*\* > Buckingham Palace is named more often than any other attraction by overseas visitors to London. When asked, before arriving here, what they plan to visit, nearly a third of overseas visitors surveyed mention Buckingham Palace unprompted, and 30% named the Tower of London. ---
**Author:** ![yojimbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yojimbo/32/232_2.png) [@yojimbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yojimbo)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2002, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/princess-dianas-butler-what-a-meatpickle/136296/48 "2002-11-14T14:13:32Z")
People go to Egypt to see the pyramids they don’t need the Pharaohs still there. Most of what you mention would still be there. Tower of London etc. does not need the Queen to be a tourist attraction. Not that it’s any of my business 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Kal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9de053/32.png) [@Kal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kal)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2002, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/princess-dianas-butler-what-a-meatpickle/136296/49 "2002-11-14T18:37:24Z")
We could always get some Disney imagineers in to build an animatronic royal family. People will still get to see the queen waving at them, they can progam Phillip to insult Johnny Foreigner and we won’t have to spend millions. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2002, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/princess-dianas-butler-what-a-meatpickle/136296/50 "2002-11-14T21:41:17Z")
They are the embodiment of British values. Not the people themselves, but their roles. There ya go – 14 words. In America the flag is the symbol of liberty, justice and equality. In the UK, the monarch (and to a (much) lesser extent, the other royals) is the symbol of whatever the hell British values are (emotional detachment, unflappability, and the appreciation of a nice cup of tea, perhaps). Without the royals, Britain becomes a third-rate US wannabe republic of no particular interest. Heck, even Belgium has royals. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2002, 9:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/princess-dianas-butler-what-a-meatpickle/136296/51 "2002-11-15T09:17:06Z")
> [@](#): > > \*\*whatever the hell British values are (emotional detachment, unflappability, and the appreciation of a nice cup of tea, perhaps). \*\* …I think you mean aloofness, privilege borne of an outmoded class system, snobbishness, adultery, dysfunctionality, psychosis, corruption, and appreciation of a nice '68 Châteauneuf-du-Pape. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Aro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b3f665/32.png) [@Aro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aro)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2002, 10:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/princess-dianas-butler-what-a-meatpickle/136296/52 "2002-11-15T10:25:13Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by yojimbo \* > \*\*People go to Egypt to see the pyramids they don’t need the Pharaohs still there. Most of what you mention would still be there. Tower of London etc. does not need the Queen to be a tourist attraction. \*\* But without the people (Queenie et al.) you don’t have the big Pageantry shows, Cinderella Carriage, Changing of the Guard and suchlike. Not that I care much either. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2002, 10:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/princess-dianas-butler-what-a-meatpickle/136296/53 "2002-11-15T10:40:10Z")
See, in my model we keep the pageantry, keep the monarch, but make the monarchy self-funding, and redistribute the majority of their obscene wealth. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2002, 11:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/princess-dianas-butler-what-a-meatpickle/136296/54 "2002-11-15T11:18:45Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by jjimm \* > \*\*…I think you mean aloofness, privilege borne of an outmoded class system, snobbishness, adultery, dysfunctionality, psychosis, corruption, and appreciation of a nice '68 Châteauneuf-du-Pape. 😃 \*\* No, no, I’m pretty sure about the tea. 😛 My wife has met Her Maj, BTW, and had a two-minute conversation with her (that’s either eight minutes or two hours and fifty-eight minutes less than Paul Burrell, depending on your source). She reports that Lizzie is genuinely nice, friendly and “has amazing skin”. I don’t know that any of those things are enough to justify the expenditure, but the spouse is not one to usually fawn over celebrities, so I believe her about the “genuinely nice” part. ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2002, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/princess-dianas-butler-what-a-meatpickle/136296/55 "2002-11-15T12:26:02Z")
> [@](#): > > Tower of London etc. does not need the Queen to be a tourist attraction. Oh, I don’t know. I can envision a way the Queen and the Tower of London _would_ be a great tourist attraction… ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2002, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/princess-dianas-butler-what-a-meatpickle/136296/56 "2002-11-15T12:30:16Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Reuben \* > \*\*God DAMN it, vBulletin is such a piece of shit! A nice long eloquent well-thought out post that would make a monarchist out of Cromwell, and I forgot to copy it somewhere safe before entrusting it to this infernal bugware that loses everything if you preview when not logged in. > > It’ll have to wait until this evening. Bah! \*\* I’d still like to know what you were going to say! [sub]And in the future, **save** the eloquent posts before attempting to submit them…[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2002, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/princess-dianas-butler-what-a-meatpickle/136296/57 "2002-11-16T15:03:08Z")
[BUTLER’S BETRAYALS Royal secrets in gay love-letters BACK-STABBING butler Paul Burrell betrayed the Royal Family’s trust— to impress his gay lover Greg Pead]([http://www.newsoftheworld.co.uk/news/news2.html](http://www.newsoftheworld.co.uk/news/news2.html)) ---
**Author:** ![everton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecb155/32.png) [@everton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/everton)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2002, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/princess-dianas-butler-what-a-meatpickle/136296/58 "2002-11-16T17:50:30Z")
That link might be entertaining for people to read **astro** , but they’re from the _News of the World_! A couple of weeks ago they were giving away a “Free Mag - The world’s 50 hottest babes”. Don’t be surprised if they give away a free foil hat to every reader any time soon. ---
**Author:** ![TwistofFate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cdc98d/32.png) [@TwistofFate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TwistofFate)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2002, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/princess-dianas-butler-what-a-meatpickle/136296/59 "2002-11-16T19:06:26Z")
Astro, the News of the World is the sister paper of The Sun. the Sun are out to discredit paul Burrel because he told his side of events about the courtcase to the Daily Mirror, the suns big Rival. they will try anything to sell papers, including using his sexuality as a weapon against him. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2002, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/princess-dianas-butler-what-a-meatpickle/136296/60 "2002-11-16T19:12:22Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by TwistofFate \* > \*\*Astro, the News of the World is the sister paper of The Sun. the Sun are out to discredit paul Burrel because he told his side of events about the courtcase to the Daily Mirror, the suns big Rival. > > they will try anything to sell papers, including using his sexuality as a weapon against him. \*\* So the handwritten letters on the right hand side of the page, purportedly from Burrel to his boyfriend, are fakes? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/princess-dianas-butler-what-a-meatpickle/136296.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/princess-dianas-butler-what-a-meatpickle/136296.md?page=4)