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> > Palace Intrigue: Queen Ripped for Heating Request > > LONDON (Sept. 24) -- An elderly British woman who wanted help heating her > home has been criticized after she asked for a handout from a government > anti-poverty fund. What's wrong with that, you might ask? Well, the woman in > question was Queen Elizabeth II, and the humble abode she wanted warming was > her swank London residence, the 775-room Buckingham > Palace<http://www.royal.gov.uk/TheRoyalResidences/BuckinghamPalace/BuckinghamPalace.aspx> > . > > The > Independent<http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/queen-tried-to-use-state-poverty-fund-to-heat-buckingham-palace-2088179.html>newspaper > today published government papers that show how, back in 2004, a > senior royal aide wrote to ministers and asked if the queen would be > eligible for a grant from a $90 million energy-saving fund. That scheme had > been set up to help cash-strapped families, schools and hospitals lower > their fuel bills by subsidizing better insulation and more efficient heating > systems. > > The monarch's deputy treasurer argued that the royal family was entitled to > a slice of the cash since gas and electricity bills had climbed more than 50 > percent over the preceding year, meaning it cost more than $1.8 million to > keep the queen and her staff warm and cozy. The treasurer added that the > annual $23 million government grant that helps pay for the upkeep of the > monarch's palaces -- part of the $60 million payment she receives each year > from taxpayers -- was no longer sufficient. > > That request was turned down by an apologetic official with the Department > for Culture, Media and Sport, who gently explained that the fund was > designed to help people considerably poorer than Queen Elizabeth II. (Forbes > magazine estimates she's worth $450 > million<http://www.forbes.com/2010/07/07/richest-royals-wealth-monarch-wedding-divorce-billionaire_slide_13.html>.) > The official added that such a handout wouldn't go down well with her > subjects, either. > > "I also feel a bit uneasy about the probable adverse press coverage if the > Palace were given a grant at the expense of, say, a hospital," the official > said, according to The Independent. "Sorry this doesn't sound more > positive." > > Anti-monarchy groups have blasted the palace's attempt to dip into the > anti-poverty fund. "We have our head of state demanding cash that has been > set aside for low-income families, for the most vulnerable in our society," > Graham Smith, a spokesman for the campaign group > Republic<http://www.republic.org.uk/What%20we%20want/In%20the%20news/?command=fe_show_press_release&press_release_id=314&date__date__year=&date__date__month=&date__date__day=>, > said in statement. "This sense of entitlement speaks volumes about the > attitudes of the Windsors and their household. For them it's all about take, > take, take. This is an outrage." > > > http://www.aolnews.com/world/article/queen-elizabeth-asked-for-poverty-handout-to-heat-palace/19647060?icid=main%7Chtmlws-main-n%7Cdl1%7Csec3_lnk3%7C173162 > > ________________________________________________ Send list submissions to: Marxism@lists.econ.utah.edu Set your options at: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
