Iluvbertie:1. The Civil List doesn't exist anymore
2. Andrew wasn't effectively getting anything from it after 1992 when The Queen started repaying the government all monies paid to royals other than herself, Philip and the Queen Mum.
3. The new money is called the Sovereign Grant and it pays for the official expenses only - no private money.
Iluvbertie: As you can probably guess, I am not one that knows a lot about the royals(learning as I fall in one hole then another), This Civil List, when did it go out of effect? I am under the assumption that all the royals live off the taxpayers..........the b..tching, the threats, the screaming about the lazy no good for nothing royals muching off the taxpayers while the poor people starve is all I read on other sites, and some of them are down right ugly, so how do the BRF support themselves? I know that the Queen in really wealthy, and then some, yet what about her children, grandchildren, cousins, the entire royal family? Don't the British people know there is no Civil List and I read somewhere recently she got a raise and the comments I read where really sad.
Andrew I believe has lined his pockets over the decades with all his rich and wealthy friends in the middle east and elsewhere, he will never be hurting for money, Charles has the Duchy of Cornwall and all the other properties that he inherited from his grandmother and other family members, Edward...how does he get his money? Anne, the same? How do they live these rather wealthy lives with no care at all for health insurance, food, travel, clothes, servants and up keep of various palaces?
I need a history lesson in this, would you please help me understand this so that I won't appear to be so dumb, there are many comments out there that I sure would love to give them a lesson in who gets what.............I get so tired of the b..ching on the BRF. I say leave them alone as long as they so their job and they do bring money to the country. This coming from someone in the US who just happens to like the BRF and no don't ever get rid of them............you don't want a republican government in there...........it would kill the British traditions in a heart beat.
1. There is NO such thing as a 'dumb question' - so please don't ever think that (I am a teacher and it is one thing that really gets to me).
2. The Civil List - ended in 2012 and was replaced by the Sovereign's Grant.
3. - HISTORY LESSON - In 1066 William the Conqueror claimed ALL the land of England as his own and then parcelled it out to his supporters etc but the bulk of the land stayed in the hands of the Crown and became known as The Crown Estate. Over the centuries different Kings and Queens gave away more and more of The Crown Estate but it was still a sizeable amount of the country and provided quite a hefty income for the monarch who used it to pay for things like the army, wars (although supplemented with increased taxes over the centuries as well), the legal system etc - in other words The Crown Estate was supposed to pay for the cost of running the country.
By 1760 The Crown Estate wasn't doing that but... the new King was also in debt (he hadn't had the advantage of having the Duchy of Cornwall estate income while heir apparent as he wasn't the eldest son of the King but grandson and so wasn't Duke of Cornwall). So George III and the parliament came to an agreement - George III would sign over to the government all of the income from the Crown Estates so that parliament could use it to pay for the running of the country and in return would pay the king an amount to cover his official expenses - called the Civil List.
Every monarch since George III has reached a similar agreement with the parliament resulting in an agreed amount to be paid to cover the official expenses of the monarch. During the present reign, due to inflation and the vast cost of living increases, the amount that The Queen agreed at the beginning of her reign was failing massively to cover her expenses by the late 60s and so there developed the regular reassessing of the Civil List payments, which rose steadily until the mid-90s when it was frozen until quite recently. In addition the government paid a figure for maintenance of the occupied royal palaces but also determined what needed to be done. That figure wasn't keeping up with the necessary maintenance as well.
In addition younger royals were granted a parliamentary annuity if they were working royals to cover their official expenses - often regarded as part of the Civil List as well.
In 1992 - the 'annus horribilis' - the Queen agreed that she would repay ALL payments made by the government to ALL members of her family except herself, Philip and The Queen Mother, which she has done ever since. She also agreed to voluntarily pay tax on her private income - something Charles has been doing since the early 70s but he is always criticised and she is given a pass -- but that is another 'lesson'.
The decision was made in 2011 to replace the myriad of payments - Civil List, transport, maintenance etc into ONE payment and the legislation was passed to give The Queen 15% of the income of The Crown Estate (the other 85% goes to the government) as her money for official expenses, transport, palace maintenance etc - so ONE payment instead of four or five and The Queen has total say over how it is spent rather than government departments getting involved as well.
4. The Queen's private income comes from a range of sources but the main one if the Duchy of Lancaster estate which provides the private income for the monarch and has done so since the middle ages. It is very similar to the Duchy of Cornwall but it is for the monarch. She has also invested wisely and has a portfolio of stocks, as well as the income from both the Sandringham and Balmoral estates. The income from Windsor is divided depending on its source - from what they do there e.g. farming - that is theirs but from tourists - to help with the maintenance of the Castle and other royal properties.
5. Charles has the income from the Duchy of Cornwall estate and uses that to provide for Camilla, William, Kate, George and Harry along with himself. It seems that it is actually giving him a larger private income than the Queen is getting from the Duchy of Lancaster but that is largely his only income while she has other sources. Both these Duchies have legislative restrictions such as the capital properties can't be sold so, for instance, Highgrove will remain with the Duchy of Cornwall because it was bought using Duchy capital while Sandringham was bought using Duchy profits and so was able to be separated from the Duchy.
6. Sources of income for other royals - George V left trust funds for his younger children, as did Queen Mary and these trust funds, along with astute management, careful investments, and maybe some supplementing from The Queen to her cousins, who couldn't work for themselves but were working for her, provides the income for the Dukes of Gloucester and Kent and Princess Alexandra. Their children will end up with anything still in the trust funds. George VI also left trust funds for Margaret and his existing grandchildren - Charles and Anne and The Queen and The Queen Mother established trust funds for the later children and grandchildren e.g. there are reports that The Queen Mum left around 19 million pounds for her great-grandchildren in trust (not confirmed mind you). Anne also has the income from the Gatcombe estate that she was given by her mother as a wedding present. Edward and Andrew are different - Andrew does have his military pension as befits a man with 20 or so years service and reaching the rank he did - but he does have to pay some of that to Sarah as part of the divorce settlement. Largely it is believed that besides the trust funds that were set up at birth by their mother and grandmother they really have no other major source of income - unless their mother is still supplementing their income. Andrew may have made some deals but I think it is more a matter that some of the associates he made while Trade Envoy like the cache of holidaying or eating with a British royal and so pay for him to go on their yachts etc rather than 'shady deals' as such although I am sure he was given some tips about stocks and shares that have helped him. In addition selling Sunninghill for 15 million pounds can't have hurt, particularly if he invested it wisely.
7. The pay rise The Queen received a few months back is simply because the Crown Estates made more money and she now receives 15% of that income. If it went down in earnings next year then she would receive less money. This money is to pay for the official staff of herself, her husband, and the other working royals, except for Charles and his branch which are supported from the Duchy of Cornwall.
8. In real terms the Queen is actually getting less from the government than she was in 1992 but that point is always lost on people.
