Some Taxpayers Are Mad About The Cost Of Prince William And Duchess Kate’s Train Tour
The COVID-19 pandemic keeps on keeping on (and on and on in some parts of North America), but over in the UK, they got a bit of good COVID news. Today, the first coronavirus vaccines were administered to a few elderly UK citizens, including William Shakespeare. That doesn’t mean COVID is over, of course. It just means things might be going in the right direction. And in honor of the heroic effort put forth by the UK’s essential workers, the Royal Family decided to send Prince William and Duchess Kate out on a train across the land to personally thank them. Awwww, how nice. Except not everyone thinks it’s cute that William and Kate have been chug-chug-chugging around the UK on the taxpayer’s dime.
Newsweek says that COVID survivor and endlessly hard-working royal Prince William and Duchess Kate decided to travel by train across the UK for their multi-stop thank you tour. Here they are arriving in Scotland yesterday:
🚂 The first stop on The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s #RoyalTrainTour is…Edinburgh! pic.twitter.com/mqwSKpxam9
— The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge (@KensingtonRoyal) December 7, 2020
Here they are visiting an elderly care center in England:
At Batley Community Centre The Duke and Duchess met volunteers who have supported elderly members of their community throughout the COVID-19 by sending cards, having regular phone calls and dropping off shopping, food bags and activity packs.
📍 Batley | 🚂 #RoyalTrainTour pic.twitter.com/7dQmZ0Jny8
— The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge (@KensingtonRoyal) December 7, 2020
Here they are being followed by a brass band while walking comically slow down the middle of a street:
A first meeting in person for The Duchess of Cambridge and Len Gardner, who The Duchess has spoken to previously as part of the NHS Volunteer Responder ‘Check-in and Chat’ scheme.
📍 Batley | 🚂 #RoyalTrainTour pic.twitter.com/W1uTQsX6o8
— The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge (@KensingtonRoyal) December 7, 2020
And here they are thanking NHS health care workers:
Thank you NHS 💙
At the Royal Berkshire Hospital @RBNHSFT The Duke and Duchess thanked nurses for their incredible and tireless work during the pandemic.
📍 Reading | 🚂 #RoyalTrainTour pic.twitter.com/k4kRKnkA0O
— The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge (@KensingtonRoyal) December 8, 2020
At one stop on the Hashtag Royal Train Tour, Prince William explained why it was so important they visit people in person to acknowledge their work:
“Catherine and I felt it was extremely important to visit just some of the heroes that have emerged this year to thank you for all that you have done.”
As for the hate, me personally, I feel bad for the tuba players walking behind William and Kate. You know at least one of them was terrified of fucking up and releasing a sound that could be confused for a royal fart. But according to Newsweek, the anti-monarchy group Republic took issue with William and Kate’s choice to travel by private train.
Graham Smith, chief executive of Republic, did the math based on a similar train trip taken by Queen Elizabeth last June, and according to Graham, William and Kate’s two-day train trip aboard the private QEII train cost an estimated $30,000. Graham Smith wondered why they couldn’t have taken a car, or even a public train, rather than the expensive private train.
Graham is also pissed that William and Kate’s trip might have broken COVID rules. For example, Scotland has advised that unless travel is necessary, there is no travel to and from Scotland. Wales has recommended against unnecessary travel. Some people are already side-eyeing sources that told Newsweek that William and Kate’s travel was necessary for work.
It will raise a hollow laugh with many that Buckingham Palace says a three day trip round the UK by William & Kate on the eye-wateringly expensive Royal Train is exempt from travel restrictions because it's work.
Better to have given the money it's costing to foodbanks. #r4today— Briefcase Michael (@BriefcaseMike) December 8, 2020
Others on Twitter suggested that a better way to thank nurses, care workers, teachers, and grocery store workers might be to give them a pay raise. To be fair, I don’t think William and Kate make those kinds of decisions. All I know for sure is that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are probably loving all of this expensive private train drama. “Not so smug now, are we?” they thought.
Pic: Wenn.com