*** OFFICIAL BREXIT SUNLIT UPLANDS and #MEGA THREAD ***

[OngBonga]

I'm just not seeing how that makes them want to come here to try to catch a glimpse of the royal family, especially when there's so many more interesting things to see and do.

I doubt a living Royal Family is a dealbreaker for too many tourists. But the Queen's fame plays a role in promoting the UK in the first place.

I've been to Windsor Castle. I don't remember anyone in the queue showing any interest at all in whether the Queen was around at the time or not.

If I said this you'd be immediately giving me shit for using my experiences as examples.

I've been to Windsor Castle too, fairly recently I had lunch in Windsor right next to the castle while the Queen was present. I couldn't help but give regular glances to the windows on the off chance I caught a glimpse. I don't even give a fuck about her, and even I subconsciously wanted to see her.

but it's not like she's the attraction there. The castle is.

The castle is such an attraction because it's the Queen's second residence. Without the Royal family, it's just a castle. We have lots of castles. Windsor is of course one of the finest, which is precisely why it's still used by the Royal Family. Of course the castle itself is an attraction, but so too is the Royal Family, or at the very least the Queen. I just found a figure of nearly 1 million visitors in 2007. In 2001 Warwick Castle got around half a million. Can't be arsed to find better figures, but Windsor Castle is getting more visitors than probably the finest castle in the country, which is exclusively used for tourism.

The Royal Family interests tourists. You can pretend it's just about the castles if you want, but I don't believe that to be the case.