A PLANNED national memorial for the late Queen Elizabeth should be paid for by the royal family, campaigners have argued.
Plans for the memorial in St James’s Park, London, include a translucent glass “unity bridge”, which is inspired by Elizabeth’s wedding tiara and is said to symbolise her as a “unifying force”.
Other plans include transforming the central London park into a public garden and include a statue of the late queen along with a Prince Philip gate.
Although the final cost has still yet to be decided, the budget has previously been reported to be between £23 million and £46m, with plans for the taxpayer to pay the full cost.
According to the anti-monarchy campaign group Republic, a Savanta poll carried out in December showed 75% of the public want the royal family to pay for the memorial.
Republic's CEO, Graham Smith, said the polling is “hardly surprising,” adding that the royal family expecting taxpayers to foot their bills needs to stop arguing they can pay for it themselves.
He said: “On this we're in the majority, overwhelmingly the British public want the royals to pay for their own memorial.
"The December poll shows true royalists are in a small minority, with just 14% thinking the country should pay for this statue.
“This result is hardly surprising. We spend over half a billion pounds on the monarchy every year, we allow them to avoid paying taxes and we pay Charles and William personal incomes of more than £23m each.
“Yet when they want a statue to the queen they expect the taxpayer to pay. This has to stop. They can pay for their own statue.”
Smith added: “There is no public demand for this memorial, support for the monarchy has fallen sharply and interest in it is low.
“And clearly the public do not want taxpayers footing the bill for a memorial, at a time when public services are at breaking point.”
The proposal for the memorial will be subject to change and is expected to be unveiled next year.
