The British Monarchy & Democracy

The British Royal family have taken the unprecedented step of releasing a statement to deny that Prince Philip has prostate cancer. They view the reporting of this matter as a serious breach of privacy. The newspapers are all agog and are waxing lyrically about prostate cancer, when are men likely to suffer from it and blah, blah, blah.
They fail, yet again, to ask a serious question:
Why the hell are we still paying for these people to live in the lap of luxury? How is it possible that in a so-called democratic society we, the British taxpayers, are still paying for these people to live high off the hog with barely a murmur from the 'royal subjects'/masses as the cost of living increases daily for the 'common person'?
Why? How did this happen?
Well, a long time ago there were fewer people living in the area now known as Britain. The people who raped and pillaged grew stronger and the weaker people worked the land and received little or no money at all for their extremely hard labour. The ones who raped and pillaged found they needed to control the land and could band together and give each other titles (a lot like the Mafia and other gangs) - so someone became King, Prince, Duke, etc. They each tried to double-cross each other and murder friends and family who stood in the way of them making money or keeping hold of their ill-gotten gains (again very Mafia-like).
The minions had to be controlled and it helped that along the way a profitable means was found of subduing the people and this is where religion played a vital role and various versions of texts came into play - one of many versions of The Bible! 'You will get your reward in heaven, folks!' And the minions watched as the people in the castles held lavish banquets as their lackeys carried out unspeakable cruelty against the common folk.
People were taught that failure to bow and scrape to these thugs meant a painful, often torturous death. (Forgive me for simplifying a very long and complex period in British history, but you get my point?)
And then we swing around to the present day - we are supposed to bow and scrape to them whilst they live fabulous lifestyles and own some of the most expensive real estate in the world. Their homes have priceless masterpieces of artwork adorning their walls and we are not allowed to enter without permission because although we pay for it all it doesn't actually belong to us. We are the minions, remember?
But, I hear someone cry, what about all the tourist money they bring into the country? Let me answer a question by asking a question: How many people visit the UK specifically because they want to meet the Queen? Very few. People will visit the UK regardless of whether a monarchy exists. People like history, especially those from other places who have ancestors who left the British Isles for a better life elsewhere. In any case that line of argument is weak - to require the British taxpayer to continually fork out millions each year to keep others in a glorified state of opulence and a position of power is wrong on any level.
To compound the problem the Queen is the head of the Church of England and this is a classic illustration of church and state working hand in hand - they need each other to exert pressure on the masses to conform to the imposed societal norms, which incidentally benefit those at the top of the tree. If you don't know how the Church of England came into being then please click here for a Wikipedia article.

You will notice that the media seems to prop up this unfair system and makes a lot of money from coverage of the Royal Family and does its best to curtail and muffle any scandals which may make Joe and Joan Bloggs wonder why they are paying to be ruled over by these people. What's worse we have the next generation waiting in the wings to take over and continue the dynasty! This is supposed to be the 21st century, People! It is incredible that we are where we are.
Regardless of your nationality does it seem morally right to be ruled by non-elected people? That their children will be automatically placed in the same position of power and will rule over you at a time appointed by them, not you?
I'm for being as fair as possible in this dog-eat-dog world and this just seems neither fair nor reasonable to me. What do you think?