Skydragon said:Ahh but, she is our Queen, who has served this country well over a long period of time, without scandal, histrionics or hiccup!
There are people who wouldn't consider that a reason to spend taxpayer money on an event. There are people who think the Queen Mother's funeral should have been a totally private event that didn't involve the armed services, the police, or TV broadcasting. It just depends on how much support you have for the person involved or even for the monarchy itself.
You don't think the taxpayer should contribute to this event; even though it's by no means certain that the taxpayer will be contributing, there are British citizens out there who think it's perfectly appropriate for it to happen. As other people have already pointed out, it depends a lot on one's perception of the person involved - since we have a whole range of people here, from those for whom Diana could never do a thing wrong to those who would like to rewrite British history to remove her altogether, we're not going to get any agreement on this subject. You've made your position clear, other people have made theirs clear; how much more remains to be usefully said on the subject of the concert and the British taxpayer?