I will stick with the devil I know thank you very much.
With regard to the cost I bet a republican set-up would cost just as much, I am thinking of the USA here as well as Ireland and the rest of Europe.
The leader still lives in a 'palace' of kind, they still milk the system, they NEVER leave office worse off financially than when they arrived. They often run the country while our monarchy has no official say.
Lastly how many money making tourists from all over the world would come to see the likes of a Thatcher or Blair son if they were getting married. The country did very well out of yesterday's wedding which was a big moral booster so

to the pageantry and all that goes with it.