Taxpayers don't owe royal family a living, says anti-monarchist campaigner

The royal family's lush life may come to an end as they have been told to stop using taxpayers’ money.

Graham Smith, CEO of Republic, heads the organisation whose aim is to abolish the monarchy and be replaced with a democratic head of state.

"If there was a clear abuse of public money then there would be some case for repayment but we are talking about staggeringly large amounts of money. I think the best thing to do is simply draw a line under it and move on," he said.

"We need to stop allowing them to spend public money on their own lifestyles, homes and travel. Then we will not have this problem in the future.

"Becoming a republic is not a punitive thing, it is a positive and optimistic thing and when that happens we should allow the royals to walk away and live their lives in private. The taxpayer does not owe the Royal Family a living. There is no reason why the taxpayer should be paying for any of them."