The Monarchy In Britain
A brief guide How Much Do They Take From Our Pockets? |  |
The Windsors get their huge income from a number of source. Some of it comes directly from the taxpayers. And some is income from financial and property investments that really belong to the taxpayers. In all they cost more than £88m a year.
The feudal family say that they give back more than this by "surrendersing" to the state the income from the Crown Estate, which they claim to be their private property. The Crown Estate is, in fact, the property of the people of Britain. The Windsors have no more right to it than the Prime Minister has to 10 Downing Street.
From Our Property
Ms. Windsor is given the income from the 33,000 acre Duchy of Lancaster, £8.3m in 2004.
Her son Charles is allowed to take the income from the Duchy of Cornwall. In the 2004 - 2005 year that gave him £13m in spending money, of which some went on official duties. The Duchy's land holdings include the 70,000 acres of Dartmoor.
These "duchys" are property holdings and investments that members of the Windsor family are allowed to benefit from. Whoever becomes Britain's hereditary head of state also becomes the "Duke of Lancaster". The eldest son of the head of state is automatically the "Duke of Cornwall".
From Our Taxes
What is officially termed "Head of State Expenditure" amounted to £36.7m in the 2004 - 2005 financial year. However, this excludes the cost of security for the numerous family members and residences. That has been estimated to exceed £30m.
This "Head of State Expenditure" is divided between "The Civil List", "Parliamentary Annuities", grants in aid and spending for the Windsors by government departments.
The spending is not restricted to hereditary head of state Windsor. Other members of her family are also on the take. Son Charles took £2.7m in taxes in 2004 - 2005 on top of his £13m income from the Duchy of Cornwall.
According to press reports her mother, now dead, also had a high style of life. Fifty personal staff, four lavishly furnished homes and a taste for the fanciest of dining out, soon exhausted the £643,000 welfare payment that she received annually from British taxpayers.
The Civil List
This gave Ms. Windor £10.6m. for the considerable running expenses of her household, including garden parties, overseas trips and so-called "walkabouts"s. It included
Catering and hospitality - £ 2.2m
Administration £3.8m
Housekeeping and furnishings - £ 2.6m
Ceremonies £1.6m
£7.6m of this was to provide Ms. Windsor with 307 staff
Parliamentary Annuities Now that Ms. Windsor's mother is dead the only "annuitiy" is a £400,000 annual handout to her husband.
Grants in aid
These amounted to £20.2m, broken down into
£14.7 for the upkeep of the numerous family residences
£5m for travel
£500,000 for public relations work.
Spending for the family by government departments
Various government departments contribute £5.5m for the administration of the honours or class system, servants, palace maintenance, ceremonies and overseas visits.
Most Expensive Monarchy
The Windsors are the most expensive monarchy in Europe. Only in 1998 were the accounts for the massive expenditure on transport and accommodation opened for parliamentary inspection.
But the Public Accounts Committee of the House of Commons and the National Audit Office are stilled forbidden from looking at how the family spend the money the taxpayers provide for the Civil List. Instead, in June of 2002, the Windsor family published their own annual civil list accounts for the first time, for information only.
And every ten years there is a review of the Civil List payments by the Prime Minister, Chancellor of the Exchequer and Windsor’s head of finance. Such infrequency is said to be necessary for the "honour and dignity of the Crown" to be upheld.
The family is exempt from the Freedom of Information Act as, despite the tax funding they receive, they are not considered to be a "public authority".
Security
Security costs are estimated to exceed £30m. The large number of homes and many family members make the cost of police protection much higher than it would be for a non-executive president.
Travelling In Style
Transport for the family cost £5m in 2004 - 2005.
Charles Windsor billed the taxpayers for £970,000 in travel expenses. A singel trip to Australia, New Zealand and Fiji cost £292,229.
The head of state's son, Andrew Windsor, spent more that £560,000 of other people's money on travel.
To enable the Windsors to get around in style taxpayers fund a 9-car train costing £700,000 a year, and pay £4m for helicopters and Air Force planes. Thirteen staff are employed to organize their travels and the administrative bill is £800,000. The bills presented to the taxpayers for payment in a recent years have included
£123,731 for Andrew Windsor to spend 11 days in the far east
£24,870 for a two-day visit to Spain by Charles Windsor
£25,829 for Charlie to take the train to visit the Eden botanical project in Cornwall
£2,565 for a family member flying to a golf tournament
£2,938 for Charlie Windsor to fly to London for a movie
£1,200 for Phil Windsor to relax at a cricket game.
£1,500 for a visit by Charlie to Wembley Stadium and
£33,000 for a "prince" to travel the 110 miles from Salisbury to Birmingham.
Palaces
Accomodation for this large family, at almost £15m, is the most expensive part of the bill.
The Windsors are provided with seven residences, 160,000 square metres of land and 1000 staff to look after the properties. Fifteen craftspeople are employed just to care for the furniture.
In June 2000 a report by the National Audit Office revealed the following costs:
£19,000 for new wardrobes
£650,000 for repairs to a palace exterior
£218,000 for redecoration of castle living room
£135,000 to replace a palace lift.
£500,000 for palace furniture and equipment.
One year the items charged to the taxpayers included £150,000 for new silk walls and gold gilding in one of the palaces.
The costs to tax payers were even higher than they needed to be because major maintenance work must be scheduled so that it does not disturb queen Windsor.
Public Relations
The cost of justifying these feudal privileges is also carried by the taxpayers. The family have been increasing their spending of other people’s money on public relations, as they recognize the need to work harder to keep their confidence trick going. They now intend to develop their Web site in a partisan effort to persuade children that the feudal institution is defencible.
Equal Opportunities
The hereditary head of state’s annual accounts tell us that "the Royal Household is committed to Equal Opportunities and all appointments and promotions are on merit."
 The Crown Estate Belongs to the People
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