Agree on the insane lies about their thrift.
Bit of a waste of an article. The author is clearly against the monarchy yet fails to enumerate many points in spite of the length.
What amazes me most is Americans. They profess a love of freedom and equality yet love the royals.
Why would this amaze you? We're free to love the royals because for us it's consequence-free.
And while they're not technically completely without power, if the royals tried to actually exercise power it would be stripped from them immediately. And they know it.
These days, for the most part the royals are a show for tourists.
Why in the world would that amaze you? As pointed out above, monarchies populate the top of the Human Freedom Index. That would indicate that "Americans" (even though I think you're painting with a broad brush, since there isn't any one "American" political philosophy) are professing something completely logical.
I was under the impression this was a meme pushed by right-wing, Murdoch-owned, pro-monarchy newspapers like The Daily Mail, The Sun and The Mirror.