Queen Elizabeth II's cost to the taxpayer has fallen as result of austerity measures which have been deeper and faster than reductions to the Dutch monarchy's annual bill at a time when belt-tightening is affecting all of Europe's royal families.
Prof Matthijs's research found that the cost of British monarchy, praised as one of the most open about its finances, had been reduced by 16 per cent, falling from euro 42.12 million to eurom over the last year.
The euro 36.42 million Dutch bill for Queen Beatrix and her children, including euro 16.62m in personal allowances, is four times the cost of keeping the Spanish royal family, a country that is at heart of the eurozone's debt crisis.
Moreover, the burden to taxpayers of the Dutch royal family, Europe's most expensive, is proportionately heavier because the population of the Netherlands is almost a third of the size of Spain's and a mere quarter of Britain's.
Even though some Royalist might say that having a President would be more expensive than a King or Queen, the difference is that we usually can elect a President and also vote him or her out of office, while those who have a King or Queen are stuck with them, if they like it or not.
EU-Digest
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