I keep forgetting that Keir Starmer announced his resignation as Britain’s prime minister, and he did so just before the tenth anniversary of the Brexit vote. Originally, many believed that Starmer would stagger his way through the summer before the next Labour PM came in, but it’s looking like Andy Burnham will probably be installed in Downing Street by the end of the month. Burnham will be the seventh prime minister in a decade, which is pretty crazy. Well, now the royalists in Britain are freaking out because one of Andy Burnham’s key advisors believes that Britain needs to “brexit” from the Windsors.
One of Andy Burnham’s key advisers said the Royal Family ought to be scaled back and should return some of their wealth. MP Miatta Fahnbulleh said the monarchy’s fortune “belongs to us”.
She argued the royals should be financially independent, suggesting an end to the taxpayer-funded Sovereign Grant which supports official duties.
Ms Fahnbulleh said in 2020: “I think the monarchy needs to be reformed. For me, that means constitutional reform — so we’re no longer a nation of subjects but a nation of citizens — through to [scaling it down] so there are less royals. And the fact we have this very wealthy family that should be financially independent. Wealth they have accumulated through centuries, they should be giving some back to the public because in the end it belongs to us.”
She made the comments on BBC show Question Time when she was chief of think-tank New Economics Foundation. She is now the MP for Peckham in South East London.
Mr Burnham may become PM in two weeks.
Alex Burghart, Shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, said: “The King of the North and his team already have their sights set on our actual King. Labour is about to hold its own coronation — and the man taking the crown is putting the future of the monarchy in doubt.”
What’s really funny is that Fahnbulleh’s statements are pretty mundane and measured? She’s not calling for the guillotine or anything. She’s not even saying that the monarchy should be abolished, she just wants to see it streamlined. She’s right about the Sovereign Grant too, which will balloon to £99.9 million next year, with even fewer working royals doing significantly less work than a decade ago. It’s even funnier because she said all of this in 2020, when QEII was still alive and the monarchy was still somewhat popular (although still in decline). Anyway, does anyone think that Burnham is going to come into Downing Street and immediately push around the Windsors? Probably not.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.
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- Andy Burnham – Mayor of Greater Manchester and Miatta Fahnbulleh -Minister for Devolution, Faith and Communities arrives for a meeting at Downing Street, London, England, UK on Tuesday 31 March, 2026.,Image: 1087683427, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: Please credit photographer and agency when publishing as Justin Ng/UPPA/Avalon., Model Release: no , Credit line: Justin Ng/Avalon
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- London, UK. 14th May, 2025. Andy Burnham speaks to press. Metro Mayors Andy Burnham (Manchester, Labour) and Steve Rotheram (Liverpool, Labour) and former Conservative rail minister Huw Merriman hold a press conference outside Parliament in Westminster, championing the proposed new rail line between the northern cities of Liverpool and Manchester to reduce travel times and a boost the region. They are seeking government backing for the project. A report on the Liverpool-Manchester Railway proposal details the potential journey time savings.,Image: 998998618, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no , Credit line: Imageplotter/Avalon
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- Britain’s King Charles III speaks to Mayor Andy Burnham, right, and Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis as he meets emergency service personnel at Greater Manchester Police Headquarters in Manchester, England, Monday, Oct. 20, 2025 to hear from staff representing Great Manchester’s Police, Fire and Rescue and Ambulance services about their roles responding to recent events and protecting people in the area.,Image: 1046944581, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: *** NO UK USE FOR 48 HRS ***, Model Release: no , Credit line: Alastair Grant/Avalon
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- (L-R) – Andy Burnham – Mayor of Greater Manchester, Steve Rotherham – Metro Mayor of Liverpool City Region, Miatta Fahnbulleh -Minister for Devolution, Faith and Communities and Kim McGuinness – Mayor of North East arrives for a meeting at Downing Street, London, England, UK on Tuesday 31 March, 2026.,Image: 1087683423, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: Please credit photographer and agency when publishing as Justin Ng/UPPA/Avalon., Model Release: no , Credit line: Justin Ng/Avalon
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- Andy Burnham – Mayor of Greater Manchester arrives for a meeting at Downing Street, London, England, UK on Tuesday 31 March, 2026.,Image: 1087683438, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: Please credit photographer and agency when publishing as Justin Ng/UPPA/Avalon., Model Release: no , Credit line: Justin Ng/Avalon
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- Miatta Fahnbulleh – Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Minister for Devolution, Faith and Communities) departs an Antisemitism Meeting in Downing Street, London, England, UK on Tuesday 5 May, 2026.,Image: 1096693977, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: Please credit photographer and agency when publishing as Justin Ng/UPPA/Avalon., Model Release: no , Credit line: Justin Ng/Avalon
23 Responses to “Andy Burnham’s key advisor said that the Windsors should be ‘scaled back’”
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Is the Sovereign grant taxpayer funded? I thought it was money and properties belonging to the monarch and set aside for running the government. I thought the royal duchies actually belonged to the people. This is confusing to me.
No, it’s paid from treasury, though pegged to the profits from the Crown Estate, which is owned by the public. The SG can never go down, though, it can go up. It replaced the civil list and was very controversial at the time. The Duchies are also owned by the public. I suggest you go to Republic to get the answers. They rely on facts, not propaganda and fairytales. It’s quite the eye-opener.
Propaganda and fairytales is right. The way the royals obfuscate their financial set up through their rota mouthpieces is disgusting and should not be tolerated in a modern society.
I hope so. Plus I did some tarot and astrology chart for brf. None shows up in very good manner. I also read for chuck and co , chuck will have shorter reign atleast 10 to 15 years. I also read why William is cozy with middleton and kate , it shows that he feels that he will be king in next few years that’s why. But here is the kicker, he won’t be king in next few years and chuck will hold on that crown for dear life as long as he can . Plus I got some cards for wales which is not very good . Willie will be particularly get fraustrated being married to kate when chuck is still breathing and also louis went to board school will clearly crack their already stained marriage.
There has been various tarot readings done over the years (by other commenters on here and elsewhere) and its interesting to note that its been pretty consistent.
It seems that people are picking up on the same themes:
– Chuck’s reign won’t be as long as people think.
– Issues with the Wails marriage, specifically around Kate and how he feels about her/their marriage the closer he gets to the throne. IIRC there was an astrologer who predicted that she won’t be Queen Consort as she will ‘retire’ from royal life due to health issues (we are currently seeing that play out).
– Williams unsuitability for the throne. Some people predicted that he will be the last Monarch if he takes the throne, others have said that he won’t be King (he will pass it onto George with Harry acting as Regent until he comes of age). The same astrologer from the above point predicted that William will use Kate’s health to walk away.
Fantasy. Charles’s reign has already been longer than people thought, once he was diagnosed with cancer.
I’m an amateur dabbler, the Royals are always a good source to practice with as we’ll all know what time they were born.
William has some interesting placements, i.e. he has Mars (action), Jupiter (expansion) , Pluto (transformation), and Saturn (Structure & discipline) all in the 9th house (belief systems, travel, higher education, justice etc), which I like on paper. Of course, this can be overpowered with other natal placements and aspects. You could easily spend hours on this! 🙂
Kill the sovereign grant and just let them live off of their duchy money.
The duchies are also publicly owned and should be returned to the public. Only an Act of Parliament confers them the profits. The monarch and heir should receive a salary, like the PM.
Exactly. The monarch and maybe the heir should receive a salary and both their jobs should be clearly defined. We keep saying the working royals work less because there are less engagements, but who says the UK needs an overpaid public figure to visit hospitals and open libraries on an industrial scale (Anne) or roam around hugging trees, hike mountains and tell people phones are bad at the dinner table (Kate)? If visiting charities for work does not have a proven impact then stop paying these people for doing it. If Sophie’s visit to Uganda or Ukraine does not have a specific purpose she must achieve and doesn’t impact the UK’s image why call that royal work? I could go on forever, but I’m sure you guys get my point.
Andy Burnham is a royalist so the establishment has nothing to worry about. But Fahnbulleh is absolutely right. The Royal Family shouldn’t be getting money from the Government. Charles and William are billionaires without the Sovereign Grant.
I would love to see reform the money the BRF consumes is staggering I don’t see how this is sustainable so eventually someone will have to deal with that family and make the appropriate moves in the government to cut the funding and hopefully start holding them accountable for their actions/crimes.
DO IT!!!! Slash the budget, seize the castles, give them a rota of charities & advocacy groups to partner with & measurable targets & defined objectives. You know, like any underperforming non-profit. Audit them every year for goals met & money spent.
Cut the sovereign grant and have them pay property taxes + proper income taxes + Market rent and the economy of the UK would be totally different.
Also? Pick one of lowest value: either the Sovereign Grant, or, the Duchy of Lancaster, or the Duchy of Cornwall. Pick one. Not three.
Yankee, they should have none since they are all owned by the public. They should receive a salary – the monarch and heir only.
Citizens not subjects is a good tagline.
They should probably also get a new national anthem.
The monarchy cannot be reformed. Will they claim (after reform) that they’re only a little bit superior to the rest of us mere mortals? That said, she’s definitely on the right track. Younger Brits are already anxious to move past this nonsense. As the monarchists die out, full abolition is inevitable. Might as well start the process now since it will no doubt take a while.
Yes, you can’t reform something that has “anointed by God” as the basis for its existence.
#DefundTheMonarchy
I would really like the new PM to be if he did anything about the rf. What about Queen Elizabeth II owning the land under the ocean surrounding England for some distance out. That must have passed to her son, and I think it should belong to England.
God may have anointed them but he isn’t paying them. Let them be a living history thing, better than Williamsburg. Scale way back on the luxury and the real estate — the money William and Kate have poured into KP, Anmer, whatever bit they did to Adelaide and now Forest Lodge is nuts. Keep the jewelry at the Tower and dust off the velvet and swan feathers as needed, but cool it on the rest and make it clear to all younger siblings of the heir that they will have to work for a living. Maybe eventually buy them (not peppercorn rent them) nice homes and they take it from there. Starting now with Charlotte and Louis.
We’ve all seen it’s a psychologically damaging way to raise and run a family, so make it clear the heirs are the custodians but not anyone’s betters. Yes it’s a change but they used to execute rival siblings and cousins. That’s been frowned upon for quite some time. Surely they can knock off the heated royal rivalry crap before they destroy the whole thing.
Listen to them, Burnham. They have overtaken your new government, although you are ostensibly the prime minister.