Just a note about the royals. They don't have a purely symbolic function. They generate more money than they cost. Either directly through tourism or by opening up business opportunities between countries.
While I don't appreciate there being people that are worth more than I socially, they're good to have around from an economic point of view.
On blackface, I take it traditional black face (black make up with red lips) is as insensitive as a Hitler costume or a costume of a skyscraper with a plane through it. But what about dressing up as a specific person, either real or fictional, from a different race? How do you feel about that 2nd grader that dressed up as Martin Luther King?