Royal funding sees biggest change in 250 years
18 October 2011
by Luke Thomas
The means by which the Royal Family is funded is today seeing the most significant alteration for 250 years.
The change comes with the introduction of the new Sovereign Grant Bill, which will come into play in 2013 and is set to replace the Civil List system which dates back to 1760.
The grant which the Royals will receive is to be set at 15% of the profits made by the Crown Estate two years before. A statement from Buckingham Palace referred to it as being a “modern, transparent and simpler” means for financing the Royal Family, but critics have lashed out against the concept, claiming that the method for calculating the funding based on Crown Estate income “makes no sense at all”.
“The two are not related,” stated the campaign group Republic, who seek an end to the monarchy and the implementation of an elected head of state. “Crown Estate revenue has always been there to provide funds for the government". Their proposal instead calls for the Royals to be assigned a yearly budget.
This means of funding is set to last seven years from its introduction before it will be reviewed. However, Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne, who brought in the change with his Spending Review in 2010, claims that the Sovereign Grant Bill will mean that “my successors do not have to return to this issue as often as I have had to”.
The Crown Estate from which the revenue will be gathered owns a property portfolio including a great many popular locations, such as Regent Street, Windsor Great Park and vast swathes of the UK’s coastlines. The 15% cut for the monarchy on the first year of the bill’s introduction is set to be around £34m, which matches current levels of royal spending.
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