Despite the Guardian’s apparent support of the republican cause in the UK, it continues to give extensive coverage to the royal family on a regular basis (How the House of Windsor saw off British republicanism, 13 June). At the same time, however, I have yet to see any mention or similar coverage of the organisation Republic, giving a balancing perspective. Its publications include a thorough analysis of the vast cost to the taxpayer of the royals, the extent of the wealth held by them and the lack of public engagements by some of those receiving such funds. At a time of growing concern about rising income inequality and poorly funded public services, Larry Elliott’s quotation from Tony Benn’s diaries, written at the time of the Queen’s silver jubilee celebrations in 1977, remains apt today: “the press plays it up to divert people from unemployment and the cost of living and the EEC and so on.”
Rev Canon Jane Fraser
Worcester
• The British royal family’s current popularity should not detract from the role it has played in advancing the UK’s diplomatic goals over decades, and beyond. The Queen has been to 116 countries on 266 official visits. She has also hosted many prime ministers and presidents in the UK. The US, as highlighted by President Trump’s recent state visit is a case in point. She has met all but one of the 13 US presidents during her reign, and has visited the US 11 times as sovereign. Even before her reign, the royals were cultivating diplomatic ties with the US. Her father, King George VI, made the first visit by a British sovereign in 1939, on the eve of the war.
Zaki Cooper
London
• Larry Elliott says: “there have been 13 US presidents since the Queen came to the throne … so she has plenty of practice in hosting a state visit.” She has, in fact, done it only twice before: George W Bush came in 2003 and Barack Obama in 2011. An invitation to a state visit is not sent to every president. It must have made Donald Trump feel very special.
Frances Wilson
Boston, Lincolnshire
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