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...And What Do You Do?

What The Royal Family Don't Want You To Know

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...And What Do You Do?

By: Norman Baker
Narrated by: David Vickery
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... And What Do You Do? is a hard-hitting analysis of the royal family, exposing its extravagant use of public money and the dubious behaviour of some among its ranks.

In this book, former government minister Norman Baker argues that the British public deserves better than this puerile diet. … And What Do You Do? is a hard-hitting analysis of the royal family, exposing its extravagant use of public money and the highly dubious behaviour of some among its ranks, whilst being critical of the knee-jerk sycophancy shown by the press and politicians. Baker also considers the wider role the royals play in society, including the link with House of Lords reform, and the constitutional position of the monarch, which is important given Prince Charles’s present and intended approach. … And What Do You Do? asks important questions about the future of the world’s most famous royal family.

“With our democracy in turmoil, it's right to be asking questions about constitutional reform. Norman Baker tackles the subject with his trademark energy and in forensic detail looking at the facts beyond the headlines.” -CAROLINE LUCAS©2019 Norman Baker Europe Great Britain Politics & Activism Politics & Government Royalty World Thought-Provoking Funny England British Royalty
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Former Liberal Democrat MP Norman Baker has written a book about the royal family. There are lots of books about the royals, nearly all of them are sycophantic and nauseating. This one is different. Baker takes a step back and looks at the concept of the UK monarchy through our history and paints a portrait of the current incumbents. We hear of the distinction between monarchy and state and learn of the blurred lines concerning the ownership and control of the Duchies of Lancaster and Cornwall. We also hear of the extravagant expenditure of the extended royal entourage and the deals with governments that has ensured that state funding for the royals can only increase based on profits of the "Crown Estates", the secret wills, the stinginess in spending their own money and the extravagance using public funds such as the exorbitant costs of private jets and helicopters that we all pay for. This will be uncomfortable reading for any monarchist who will find it impossible to justify the lavish lifestyles coupled with the appalling behaviour of certain family members. We also hear of some uncomfortable secrets regarding the royals such as Edward VIII being a nazi sympathiser and the treatment and selection of royal servants.
Baker does have an admiration for the Queen, as most of us do, and falls short of calling for the UK to be a republic. He concludes by calling for a greater levels of transparency and modernisation of the way our Royal Family conducts itself in public. Anyone reading this book would be hard pressed to disagree with him.

The tree that does not bend will be broken

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Great narrator and a very informative book.... I had no idea how much the Royal family were costing us and was under the impression that they make us lots of money through tourism etc.... I wasn't a big fan of the monarchy before starting this book and can clearly state that what little respect I had for them has now gone!

Very informative

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When I was younger I was quite the republican. As I grew older (now retired) my anger subsided and I viewed the monarchy as certainly outdated, and I still disagreed with the institution in principle, but realised there were more important challenges facing the world than ending centuries of undeserved privilege. However, having listened to this excellent account by Norman Baker my republican fervour has been re-ignited. Even if we are not yet ready as a nation to rid ourselves of monarchy surely anyone listening to this must agree that something needs to change. We need to slim down royalty, make it much more open and accountable, end the royal’s ability to spend little of their own money and grow ever richer whilst wasting millions of ordinary people’s hard earned taxes, and to remove all the hangers-on who contribute little and who are enjoying their good fortune while it lasts.

My review is obviously based on the assumption that what the author states is factually correct, but even if only a fraction is true then something is clearly rotten with the Windsor dynasty. This book contains very serious questions of accountability, corruption, undemocratic influence on government and clear abuse of public money. Too many people in the establishment benefit from the continued existence of the monarchy, even if it is to just give credibility to their own continued privileged existences.

Thank you to Norman Baker for this revealing book. Unfortunately the people who most need to read it, that is those flag wavers who queue up for hours to get a glimpse of a Royal at some wedding or state occasion, are unlikely to want to read it.

The book is well narrated and I thoroughly recommend it to anyone who wants to be better informed on the monarchy and the republican argument.

One of those books we all should read

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Wasn’t sure about this and worried it may just be a left wing biased attack on the royals
In fact it was an eye opening, thoroughly addictive listen
Narrator made a few audible errors and for that alone i didn’t score it 5 stars all round

Fabulous listen. Eye opening and eye watering

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Fascinating info on the Royal family. Anyone interested in the Windsors should read this before the next coronation. Excellent book.

should br required reading!

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