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Dear Prince Charles..why not live off your earnings and saving.Why take money from the tax payers and try to stop your brother from flying all over the world fo date with this or that female.
Get rid of the royals.

- Jaberwokie, Switzerland

Perhaps we need a referendum on whether we want Prince Charles to be King. I think it would be a close thing but might shake his Majesty out of the complacency he seems to share with Bankers and Tory MP's about living a life of luxury oblivious to the austerity descending on the UK people.

- S Lloyd, Ealing England

Shame on you, Royal Parasite!

- Alexandra, Mexico

The British people are smart and they alone must decide their shared destiny. What royalty provides and what royalty fails to deliver must be accounted for side by side. My own personal belief is that royalty adds so much to the balance sheet in a fair and objective way. But of course, I could be wrong and of course the British people could feel very different. It's their choice, but I must tell you that Prince Charles is a wonderful ambassador for Britain. He is thoughtful,kind prescient, timely and very first class. He is an asset to Britain. But what would I know as a foreigner? It is your call!

- Barrett Hays, san antonio, texas

PARASITES.

- Ray Jarvis, Marlborough USA

let's have a whip round for the poor little sod. he must be feeling the pinch!

- Kerry Trubee, Purley

I heard that Gordon Brown blocked the public from getting access to the expenses of the royal family and this tells me why. We've to be one of the stupidest nations in the world. In a recession where people are losing their homes and jobs and our pensioners struggle to get by and politicians talk about cuts in public spending, we keep taking tax payers money from people on minimum wage and people who can least afford it and we hand it to one of the richest family in the land. It’s like taxpayers having to give money to Richard Branson or a family that has won £300 million on the lottery. There will be some royal family PR rent a gob spokes person on TV, radio and the papers telling us that the family only cost us each 66p a year. I don’t care. Would rather my 66p go to pensioners, solders, the unemployed or the homeless. We found out about the MPs expenses and accounts, when are we going to find out about the royal family and all their accounts including how much tax they actually pay.

- Frank, London

If royalty were a business they would either be self funding or make a profit or go bust and cease trading,they are most certainly not a business.The royal family are rich in there own right and to take money from the tax payers,money that could be better spent on children's education or the health service,is nothing but robbery,but they have had plenty of experience of robbing the population of this country going back hundreds of years.

- Kev, London-UK

Reading all of the 30 messages it seems that people are broadly 50/50 on this issue, perhaps with a slight balance in favour of the Prince.

I am no expert in these matters but I assume that the Prince's earnings come from an inheritance as the Duke of Cornwall and of Lancaster? Other than an accident of birth, what did he do to obtain these revenues? He may do good with these resources but who is to say someone else could not do as well if not better? With the exception of the Queen, they are all parasites and I would not be at all sad to see them go. Prince Andrew, for example, continues to mock us by using planes for personal flights but puts it down to the public purse and other members of the Royal Family are guilty of similar excesses.

In the 21st century they are dinosaurs and should be put on show, where people can pay to see them.They only pay lip sevice to tours of Buckingham Palace and its art treasures. They are a disgrace. They should behave like the Spanish royal family.

When anyone suggests that the Queen goes or the like, royalists scream that a republic would be worse. I doubt it would be or that we couldn't find someone apolitical who could do the job.It's time for them to go and their assets confiscated to the nation.

Let's get rid now.

- Captain Black Of The Mysterons, London, England

Royalty is not a tourist attraction, it is a business that serves the country and as such has a cost. Those who serve do so with enduring pride for the continued success of England. HRH The Prince of Wales has spent decades providing hope and opportunity to thousands who would otherwise never have had such opportunity. His Princes Trust provides invaluable assistance, as does his father's awards, his sister's foundations and of course his mother's never ending work for the benefit of the nation. It is easy to mock the grandeur and the pomp as the only face of the monarchy. The real heart of the monarchy lies in the work they do, often un-reported and often anonymous. The royal family endures harsh critism and yet does not walk away from the responsibilites thrust upon them. For those who call them parasites, look beyond the facade and appreciate the continued work they do, not for their own gratification but for the ultimate reward of bringing jobs, hope and investment into the UK - this rewards all of us. God Save the Queen ...

- Mark, Hong Kong

all the so called Royals are parasites and hypacrits get rid of them all the only person that done the right thing was Oliver Cromwell

- Nicky, sevenoaks uk

We have never had a need for these parasites and its time now for them to go like the MPs who have been ripping us off. There is no justification for having what are described as "Staff" to that number unless he needs people to tie his shoelaces.The MPs are paupers by comparison.
T H Leeds

- Thomas Hayes, Leeds UK

And we slag the greedy bankers off. Earning 23.4% more but paying less tax. Is this guy on the same planet as the rest of us. He is about as much in touch with ordinary people as my backside is to the moon

- Trevn, Abu Dhabi

So how many of the commentators actually read the article. Not many judging by the comments. His taxpayer funded expenditure rose by 579000. This included an increase in travel exps of 553000. Two trips which cost two million quid were at the request of the Government, so if the government hadn't asked, we the taxpayer would have saved two million quid, and his taxpayer funded expenses would have dropped by 1.5 million, roughly.
Mind you, I wouldn't mind working for him, as he spent 6.2 million quid employing 125 full time equivalent staff, that's about 50 grand apiece average, not bad eh, nearly as much as an MP.
It would also appear, due to the fact that he didn't borrow any money, that he should be made Chancellor, as he would appear to be doing better than the clowns that were voted into office in Downing Street. Perhaps he could have a word with his mum as ask her to do us all a favour!

- Alan, carlisle uk

Replace the Royal Family with what, exactly? Sarko? Belusconi? The Kinnocks . . . ?! (Whose children both landed plumby jobs in Europe too . . .)

If it aint broke don't fix it: remember how much the old House of Lords used to cost compared to the new, corrupt one.

- Roz, France

If you actually work out the total cost of the Royals per person it is tiny. Prince Charles is one of the more active royals working to promote Britain overseas (hence the air bill) and working with charities to help the underpriviledged. He also speaks up for ordinary British people, the sort that the mainstream liberal/left parties ignore on a whole range of issues. Good on him, and why can't the media be honest about its real republican agenda?

- Huw Morgan, London

Does Prince Charles secretly put in a few hours at RBS.?

- Mr S.Port, London

The Duchy of Cornwall will be his regardless of whether he is a prince or not. The Windsor's are an incredibly wealthy land owning family. For all those saying they are a waste of taxpayers money, they actually pay for themselves in revenues from the crown estate lands, which, legally, they would have a claim to if we did ever get rid of them. I'm not a massive monarchist, but I doubt we would save any money on an elected head of state. In fact, it would probably be more expensive.

- Chris, London

OH well, the gravy train rolls on.

- Shallotman, Basildon

And whilst I am on my soapbox, where is the Queen when we need her? She is the last one to sign and allow Bills through parliament, surely she must be disgusted with the current Commons. Get Brown by the scruff of the neck and tell him he is not doing right for Kingdom UK.

Come on Elizabeth, get up and have a say on the crisis. Earn your money and help the people! Don't let us down.

- Rod, Epping, UK

how ironic to hear the Dilettante Prince's Lackey Sir Michael Peat commenting on the recession. If the Prince got bored with his hobby, he would simply go off and play at something else.

- Carl, London

I have a feeling that the public's attitude towards the royals will change when the Queen is no longer with us. She and Princess Anne are the only ones who never put a foot wrong.
I strongly endorse the comments about Andrew and his daughters. Andrew is no slouch at spending public money on his visits to golf clubs around the country, and his daughters contribute nothing but cost a fortune in security. Goodness knows how much their travel costs and who picks up the bill.
The assets of the Duchy of Cornwall may be £600 million but what has Charles ever done to deserve this except be the first son of the Queen.
The days of the common people standing aside and touching their forelocks are gone and nowadays we expect to get value for our money, not finance the Saxe-Coburg family to live life in grand style.

- Scotty, Cambridge UK

Good grief enough about the Prince's charity which is not really there to help a handful of deserving but under priviledged people (and good luck to them) but to provide the prince with a thin veil of protection against the rest of his abuse. As for tourism and the royals, do me a favour, more tourists flock to France than the UK, for instance. There is no need and no justification for a royal family of any description. They must go as quickly as possible.

- Fanfan La Tulipe, London

Here we go again, giving to the ones with plenty!!!!!!!!!!!!

- Richard Edmunds, Rayleigh Essex

Come on you British people. Whenever we, as foreigners, think of the UK we think about the Royal family. You are lucky to have them as a brand name for your country. Comparing the fudning they get from the taxpayers and the amounts companies are paying for their brand names, it is nothing. So stop moaning about the mornachy and be proud for having it.

- Chris Chang, London

Sir Michael said the value of the Duchy of Cornwall assets was just under £600 million.

Charlie give the people of Kernow the duchy back and give greece back the marbles. England a nation of thieves and pirates

- Ge, Kernow Nation of

If people continue to kow tow to these Windsors they will continue to think they are entitled to fund their lavish lifestyles at tax payers' expense. His brother Andy and his two parasitic daughters ought to be made seek gainful employment and pay for their own expenses and if Charles and Camilla feel it necessary to travel the world by private jet then they ought to buy their own and fund it themselves. Tax payers are currently paying millions of pounds for fraudulent expense claims made by the most corrupt MPs this country has ever had and - to add insult to injury - we are going to have to shoulder the billions of pounds debt incurred by Coe's olympic gravy train. I am afraid our patience is wearing very thin and Charles ought to be aware of it.

- R.F., Yorks, UK

I won't bother to make any more comments to the Evening Standard website as they censored my comment from before which stated their website was not giving a balanced view to the readers. So glad we live in a democracy, free speech and all that...

- Paul, Chatham, UK

Despite loud carping from the usual suspects, this is excellent news for a man who has helped many thousands of deprived youngsters towards a better future. And, just imagine how great it would be if prince Charles' knockers ceased their juvenile sneering and directed THEIR energies into making this country a better place for the young to grow up in.

- Ted, London

Dave Davies from Basingstoke, we are not in the least bit jealous of a totally disfunctional family with their silver spoons and luxurious lifestyles. I wouldn't swap. I just think it is disgusting that the possible future King is fleecing us, and even worse, thinks he can get away with it. Time to get rid I am afraid (never thought I would say it!).

- Rod, Epping, UK

This man should never become King! Maybe it's something about be the "Man in Waiting" that spoils you for the top job eventually. Just look at Gordon Brown and history shows many others like Anthony Eden

- Stephen, Plymouth

Take as much as you can Charlie-you're in good company!!!

- Alan, Chigwell.UK

The Prince attended 658 official engagements during his 60th Birthday year. Personally I wouldn't like to have to perform so much travelling. I think people underestimate the attraction of the monarchy to foreigners and the revenue it generates for the country as a whole (tourism). I would say it's pretty good value for money. Also, the Prince raised over £130m for his 20 charities last year - how many government bodies can claim that, yet they suck the country dry without much to show for it...

- Paul, Chatham, UK

Corrupt to the core and a waste of the tax payers money

so london brings is tourism but lets think what exactly does the rooyal family do for this country -

justr fleece the public who actually work hard from their money

- Max, london

Who decides the expenses for these leaches? I am also disgusted, let's get rid ASAP. We can't afford them!

- Rod, Epping, UK

Let it rip - All the derogatory comments from the jealous.

- Dave Davies, Basingstoke, Hants

put the monachy to a public vote, another burden to carry

- Basil, bussiere poitevine 87320 france

I bet he's feeling the pinch!!

He ought to try and live off £10K a year like some of us.

- C Cusano, Bedford

Well I suppose it costs a fortune to keep his wife looking so stunningly beautiful... Money well spent Sir. NOT.

- Jb Sussex, hove sussex uk

A complete and utter waste of money.

- Stephend, London, England

The royal family is the ultimate expenses scandal.

- Steve Green, London

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