True cost of Monarchy

The UK republic movement have published a report highlighting what they say is a far more accurate appraisal of the Monarchy's cost to Britain. They have estimated the cost at close to £200m, five times higher than the £38m estimated by the royal household. Included in their costs is £100m spent on security, £40m of lost revenue (from the Duchy of Cornwall and Duchy of Lancaster) and £26m spent every year by local councils every time the Queen visits. They have compared the cost of the British Monarchy to the other European Monarchies and to European republics and called for reform of Monarchy finances. Spain's Monarchy is reported to cost only £7.4m. The German parliamentary president £21m.
In times of severe austerity in Britain, when the royal family are exempted from the freedom of information act, it is only right that a big spotlight is focused on what the monarchy is for, how much it costs and how effective it is.  There will be the inevitable debate over how the figures were calculated and whether the comparisons made are sound but irrespective of the that debate it is clear that the figure is far higher than previous estimates. Graham Smith, the republican leader in the UK made it clear they were still campaigning to abolition the monarchy and called for more openness and transparency so that citizens could make an informed choice about what to replace it with.
As a British citizen myself I fully support his call for more accountability.   Here in NZ we have made similar calls for an inquiry into the cost of Government House and the Governor-General . Our estimate is $7.6m when all of the different costs are factored in.