More Taxpayers Want Royal Pain
LONDON — A larger share of Britons believe that the lives of the beleaguered royal family should be more taxing.
A survey for the Sun tabloid newspaper showed that 90% of those polled thought that the royals should pay tax, while 83% said taxpayers should not finance the monarchy at all.
In a poll carried out in February, 80% thought the royal family should relinquish its tax-free status, but that was before a spate of royal scandals that appear to have undermined public confidence--including pictures of the Duchess of York, estranged wife of Prince Andrew, frolicking topless with a U.S. businessman.
Fergie and her husband Andrew receive an annual government income of $495,500 a year, the Economist magazine said. The queen receives nearly $15.86 million a year.
Newspapers have also carried reports of a taped telephone conversation between Princess Diana, the wife of Prince Charles, and a male admirer.
“People might forgive them living messy private lives if only they wouldn’t do it at the taxpayer’s expense,” columnist Lynn Barber wrote in the Observer newspaper.
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