ADVERTISEMENT

Queen Elizabeth set for 8% pay rise

June 27, 2017 06:49 pm | Updated 06:49 pm IST - London

The Queen and the Royal Family’s official travel cost the UK taxpayer £ 4.5 million during 2016/17

Latest accounts show that the profits of Crown Estate owned by Queen Elizabeth II rose by £ 24 million and official net expenditure last year increased by 2 million, to almost £ 42 million.

Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II is set for an 8% pay rise this year, which will boost her funding from UK taxpayers by £ 6 million.

Latest accounts show that the 91-year-old monarch owned Crown Estate profits rose by £ 24 million and official net expenditure last year increased by 2 million, to almost £ 42 million.

According to the latest accounts released this week, the Queen and the Royal Family’s official travel cost the UK taxpayer

ADVERTISEMENT

£ 4.5 million during 2016/17, up

ADVERTISEMENT

£ 500,000 from the previous year.

ADVERTISEMENT

The Sovereign Grant, which pays for the salaries of her household, official travel and upkeep of palaces, is to increase in 2018-19 to make up for this rise in expenses.

“When you look at these accounts, the bottom line is the Sovereign Grant last year equated to 65p per person, per annum, in the United Kingdom. That’s the price of a first class stamp. Consider that against what the Queen does and represents for this country, I believe it represents excellent value for money,” said Sir Alan Reid, Keeper of the UK’s Privy Purse.

The Sovereign Grant is paid two years in arrears and is given to the Queen by the UK Treasury.

ADVERTISEMENT

The funding model is based on 25 % of the profits of the Crown Estate, which hit a new high of £ 328.8 million this year.

Alison Nimmo, the chief executive of the estate, attributed this to the “many years of disciplined market positioning.”

The estate covers much of London’s prime West End properties, Windsor Great Park, Ascot Racecourse, extensive farmland and forest and almost all of the seabed out to 12 nautical miles in the UK.

Last November it had been announced that the grant would increase from 15% of the Crown Estate profits to 25 % for a 10 -year period, effective from this April, to fund the £ 369-million cost of refurbishing Buckingham Palace.

This is a Premium article available exclusively to our subscribers. To read 250+ such premium articles every month
You have exhausted your free article limit.
Please support quality journalism.
You have exhausted your free article limit.
Please support quality journalism.
The Hindu operates by its editorial values to provide you quality journalism.
This is your last free article.

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT