2015 UK General Election

[Jenny A]

Indeed France is the most visited country in Europe and famously beheaded their nobility.
People don't come to see the queen, they come to see Buckingham Palace.

To quote a recent handsome and wise fellow whose name escapes me:

The tourist argument is a bit like saying "well, we could remove the tumour, but the way it fills out your bra is very eye-catching. Also the bald/headscarf look looks so good on you."

These tourists only ever get to see the buildings, the palaces and whatnot. Are they really so shallow that they only show up because someone they themselves would most likely object to having in their country lives inside?

Having been to London on several occasions and never bothered with Buckingham Palace I wondered just how big a tourist attraction it really is.  It doesn't make the top 12 for 2013:

Total visits

British Museum

6,701,036 (+20%)

National Gallery

6,031,574 (+14%)

Natural History Museum

5,356,884 (+6.7%)

Tate Modern

4,884,939 (-8%)

Science Museum, South Kensington (SMG)

3,316,000 (+10.9%)

V&A (South Kensington)

3,290,500 (+1.8%)

Tower of London (HRP)

2,894,698 (+18.4%)

Somerset House Trust

2,398,066 (-)

St Paul’s Cathedral

2,138,130 (+19%)

Westminster Abbey

2,020,637 (+13.8%)

National Portrait Gallery

2,014,636 (-4%)

Old Royal Naval College Greenwich

1,803,477 (+1%)

National Museum of Scotland (National Museums Scotland)

1,768,090 (-7%)

British Library

1,475,382 (+4.3%)

National Maritime Museum (RMG)

1,437,725 (+27%)

Edinburgh Castle (Historic Scotland)

1,420,027 (+15%)

Chester Zoo

1,409,249 (-)

Tate Britain

1,378,272 (-10%)

Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew

1,324,499 (+29.4%)

ZSL London Zoo

1,294,483 (+26.4%)

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destin...tions.html

In fact it's not even close.  Only 558,000 people visited Buckingham Palace in 2012. http://www.royalcollection.org.uk/news/b...oup-visits That's a little less than half the number of people who visited the London Zoo.  It seems unlikely that anyone visits London for the purpose of seeing it.

Apparently we like beheadings better. The Tower of London in number seven.  My favorites didn't make the like:  The British War Museum, the Churchill Rooms, and The London Eye.

I think you can safely give up the monarchy and keep the tourists.  It's Queen Elizabeth I, Henery the VIII, etc. we care about.