Responding to the Republicans

For my more general observations about the Queen's "poverty" remarks and the republican response, see here: About that "Political" Queen

     

     Last Friday, the Queen remarked: “Poor people and their problems don’t get reported often, and they need all the ­assistance they can be given.”

     Graham Smith, chief executive of anti-monarchy group Republic, criticized the monarch for her statement via the Daily Mirror. Here, I will rebut his statements (in italics) one by one:
  

There’s never been a day in her life where she has had to worry about getting food on the table or making sure her children have books and uniforms for school or paying the mortgage and bills.

     The Queen may not have to worry about her family, but the comments made by her suggest that she does have concerns about her subjects and the entire country - still suffering from the worst economic crisis in over 70 years. In addition, she does have to worry about the upkeep of the state royal palaces and other Crown possessions for the benefit of the nation and future generations.

It’s a rather crass and inappropriate statement from someone who is a multi-millionaire many times over and has no problems helping herself to public money.

     She is the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and was merely expressing her concern for millions of her subjects who are struggling out there. It is entirely appropriate for her to make a statement like this, for she herself probably feels a bit of responsibility for the welfare of her people.

     As for "helping herself to public money", the money he is referring to are the annual funds that go toward running the monarchy. Following the same logic of Mr. Smith, I suppose President Obama (elected official) and his family are helping themselves to the American taxpayers' money.

What does she know about politics and these people’s lives?

     After 62 years of reading official government papers, meeting with ministers (going back to Churchill), giving Royal Assent to Parliamentary legislation, and other like functions, the Queen probably knows a lot about politics - probably more than many of us realize. As Queen, she has probably read several reports about the living conditions and economic state many are living through.

She couldn’t be further from normal people’s experiences and all the evidence shows she can only identify with people she mixes with, who are millionaires living in large mansions and country estates.”

     The Queen also mixes with the people who work for her, and has been known to interact with those who live on her estates at Sandringham and Balmoral (and not all of them are "millionaires living in large mansions and country estates"). She meets people from all backgrounds almost everyday, and has visited both rich and poor communities throughout the United Kingdom. As Queen, she probably knows very clearly that there is a gap between rich and poor, and that some people are greatly in need of assistance.

She’s clearly making a political statement which she’s not supposed to be doing. There’s a whole lot of implications you could take from what she has said...It’s a criticism of government policy, and the rights and wrongs of government policy aren’t what she’s supposed to speak on.”

     If this was a criticism of government policy, one would expect the Queen to come out publicly against a particular policy of the present Coalition government, or publicly support the policies of the Labour Opposition. However, she did not do that. She was merely expressing a heartfelt concern for poor people, and she may have been remarking that private charity can do more to help, not just the government. In this light, the Royal family does its bit to promote and support organizations that help to lift people out of poverty.