The economic implications of a Royal Wedding

Channel 4 reports that the either the government or Her majesty would foot the bill of Prince William’s wedding in either in 2011. Opinions are divided on the cost of the wedding. The guardian reports that the 1981 wedding including security could have cost around £30m which could be upto £100m in today’s terms.  If the Queen is denied any increase in the civil list, her personal fortune would be hit. How much of that wealth is there, is itself ambigious, as the Queen holds much of this wealth in trust for the nation. The Times Rich estimates her fortune is £290m and a £100m deficit might be too much to stomach for Her Majesty? The government will have a lot of wrangling to do before parliament appproves this additional expenditure in times of uncertainity.Will this provide value for who ever foots the bill? I think it will.Ofcourse  as this is my off the cuff assessment, it may be slightly off,the exact estimates. Prince william is still by far the most popular Royal with a credible public persona and his wedding will be a media frenzy that could draw the tourists to the UK. Government Statistics indicate that the UK earned over £4.3Bn last year. A mere 2.33% hike in tourist arrivals would pay for the wedding. What about the other parts of the economy? Souvenirs and other copies of royalMemorabilia would produce an economic boost -but only if it was manufactured in the UK and not in china or other lower production states! What about the value of its morale boost to  a populace battered down by cuts and cuts? Remember the Churchill era and the value of good PR in times of crises. The wedding might do that now and spur all of us to create more value than we spend on it.
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