Royal Wealth and Finances 1: Ending 2022


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Osipi said:
From the onset of the desire to "go their own way", one important thing was stressed and that was that they'd no longer receive funds from the Sovereign Grant. As the renovations to Frogmore Cottage were paid by the Sovereign Grant, it stands to reason that they would reimburse those funds.

They came to an agreement and as far as I know, they haven't reneged on the deal made as far as reimbursing the funds. So, where's the beef? ?
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Its been explained. They have a deal now that will presumably make them a lot of money, they alsos have a private fortune...
 
Their private financial matters are just that. Private. Their production company is a totally separate corporate beast and will have its own accounting department and financial advisors. The production company's funds have absolutely *nothing* to do with the Sussex *private* financial deals.

What matters is that there is an agreement in place to pay back the Sovereign Grant. As long as they adhere to this agreement, there's *no* problems. ;)
 
Denville said:
What deal are you referring to? The one to pay back for Frogmore or the deal with Netflix
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As long as they have a foothold on Crown Estate property (Frogmore Cottage) It does seem British taxpayers won’t let up on these US residents.
 
Dalriada said:
As long as they have a foothold on Crown Estate property (Frogmore Cottage) It does seem British taxpayers won’t let up on these US residents.
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The BBC is reporting that the Duke of Sussex has now repaid in full the cost of renovating Frogmore Cottage.

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-54062799

The following excerpt from the BBC article is worth quoting.


It was Harry and Meghan who announced that they would repay the cost of renovating Frogmore Cottage. In such way a line is drawn, and the couple may perceive themselves to be free of any of the obligations they once laboured under.

And Frogmore Cottage stands empty, a rather lonely monument to an unhappy chapter in the royal story.
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Eskimo said:
That’s done and dusted, then
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The DM is reporting that the renovation cost was repaid with money the Sussexes got from the Netflix deal.

It sounds unwise to me as that should be investment money, especially considering the big operation they are setting up (with feature films, documentaries and children's programming).
 
A deal is a deal and they paid for the renovations made to Frogmore Cottage.
 
The TaxPayers' Alliance now claiming on social media and its website that their members have lobbied the fast repayment :whistling:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1303008646939529216

https://www.taxpayersalliance.com/taxpayers_alliance_responds_to_harry_and_meghan_royal_refund

From wikipedia: The TaxPayers' Alliance is a right-wing libertarian pressure group in the United Kingdom formed in 2004 to campaign for a low tax society.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TaxPayers'_Alliance

It does make me wonder whether Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown and Bim Afolami (Conservative MPs) were persuaded by the TaxPayers' Alliance' petition to raise this concern to the Public Accounts Committee.
 
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Deleted and merged with another post.
 
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All sorted then, case closed. I don't care what they do with their own money as long as they aren't taking official money or still owing any.
 
tommy100 said:
All sorted then, case closed. I don't care what they do with their own money as long as they aren't taking official money or still owing any.
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The DM is also saying that they will no longer take Charles' cash, having de facto declared their "financial independence".

All that is very good, but I insist they should not be diverting their production company's money to repay unrelated private debt or to pay for private expenses, at least not until they have delivered an actual product to Netflix.

I don't know how things like that are seen in the UK, if that is what they are doing, but it sounds a bit like a Ponzi scheme to me.

I don't know, maybe I'm overreacting.


AC21091968 said:
The TaxPayers' Alliance now claiming on social media and its website that their members have lobbied the fast repayment :whistling:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1303008646939529216

https://www.taxpayersalliance.com/taxpayers_alliance_responds_to_harry_and_meghan_royal_refund

From wikipedia: The TaxPayers' Alliance is a right-wing libertarian pressure group in the United Kingdom formed in 2004 to campaign for a low tax society.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TaxPayers'_Alliance

It does make me wonder whether Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown and Bim Afolami (Conservative MPs) were persuaded to raise this concern to the Public Accounts Committee.
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A somewhat nonsensical claim IMHO as the money, as far as I understand, was paid back to the Queen (via a contribution to the Sovereign Grant) and not directly to the Treasury.

In other words, taxpayers didn't get any money back and, in fact, no extra "taxpayer money" was spent on Frogmore cottage which had not already left the Treasury and been given to the Queen.
 
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Mbruno said:
A somewhat nonsensical claim IMHO as the money, as far as I understand, was paid back to the Queen (via a contribution to the Sovereign Grant) and not directly to the Treasury.

In other words, taxpayers didn't get any money back and, in fact, no extra "taxpayer money" was spent on Frogmore cottage which had not already left the Treasury and been given to the Queen.
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Exactly, I think The TaxPayers' Alliance is just frustrated on public spending due to COVID-19. Any "unnecessary" expenditure would anger them. :lol:

(P.S. I am personally for low taxation, but accept the fact that Frogmore Cottage renovation was paid by the Sovereign Grant, not the taxpayer or HM Treasury)
 
Mbruno said:
The DM is reporting that the renovation cost was repaid with money the Sussexes got from the Netflix deal.

It sounds unwise to me as that should be investment money, especially considering the big operation they are setting up (with feature films, documentaries and children's programming).
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If that’s the case it’s between them and Netflix. The UK has been reimbursed.
 
Excellent news that the money for refurbishing their wedding gift from the Queen has now been reimbursed by the Sussexes. Also that Charles will no longer be paying them an allowance. All within six months of leaving as working royals. Now perhaps the tabloids will concentrate on other matters besides constant criticism of this couple.
 
Curryong said:
Excellent news that the money for refurbishing their wedding gift from the Queen has now been reimbursed by the Sussexes. Also that Charles will no longer be paying them an allowance. All within six months of leaving as working royals. Now perhaps the tabloids will concentrate on other matters besides constant criticism of this couple.
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Frogmore Cottage was never a “wedding gift from the Queen”:

“Harry should have paid this bill from the outset, rather than expecting the taxpayer to stump up the cash.

“They’ve now paid for the refurbishment while continuing to use the home whenever they stay in the UK.

“Their statement claims the cottage is the Queen’s property, which is untrue.

“It belongs to the Crown Estate, which is there to raise revenue for the Treasury, so we have a right to know what rent they are paying for the place.”

Questions have been raised as to how much time Harry and Meghan intend to spend in the UK. Some key live-in staff at Frogmore Cottage were moved to other duties within the Queen’s household earlier this year.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news...ore-cottage-renovation?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other
 
Dalriada said:
“Their statement claims the cottage is the Queen’s property, which is untrue.

“It belongs to the Crown Estate, which is there to raise revenue for the Treasury, so we have a right to know what rent they are paying for the place.”
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Just to clarify things, "The Crown Estate belongs to the reigning monarch 'in right of The Crown', that is, it is owned by the monarch for the duration of their reign, by virtue of their accession to the throne. But it is not the private property of the monarch - it cannot be sold by the monarch, nor do revenues from it belong to the monarch."

The Sovereign Grant is given to the monarch from the Crown Estate and with that funding, the monarch is footing the bill for renovations and restoration of the properties the royal family uses.

One thing too is that when the Sussexes were taking Frogmore Cottage as their UK residence, it was the personalizing of the interior that they reimbursed the Sovereign Grant for. The renovations of any of the structure of the residence would have had to be done regardless if the Sussexes moved in there or Andrew or Anne or if it was to be a playhouse for Charlotte. :D

Its easier to see where the taxpayer monies come into play when we take a look at the renovations being done over a period of 10 years to Buckingham Palace.

"Funding for a multimillion-pound refurbishment of Buckingham Palace has been approved by MPs. They backed changes to the Sovereign Grant - the funding formula for the monarchy's official duties - by 464 votes to 56. The grant will increase by 66% to pay for the £369m refurbishment."

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-3802551...alace is to undergo,work, to begin next April.
 
stunking said:
A deal is a deal and they paid for the renovations made to Frogmore Cottage.
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yes. which was the right thing for them to do. If they want to spend their advance on that, I think it was a good idea...
 
Osipi said:
Just to clarify things, "The Crown Estate belongs to the reigning monarch 'in right of The Crown', that is, it is owned by the monarch for the duration of their reign, by virtue of their accession to the throne. But it is not the private property of the monarch - it cannot be sold by the monarch, nor do revenues from it belong to the monarch."



The Sovereign Grant is given to the monarch from the Crown Estate and with that funding, the monarch is footing the bill for renovations and restoration of the properties the royal family uses.



One thing too is that when the Sussexes were taking Frogmore Cottage as their UK residence, it was the personalizing of the interior that they reimbursed the Sovereign Grant for. The renovations of any of the structure of the residence would have had to be done regardless if the Sussexes moved in there or Andrew or Anne or if it was to be a playhouse for Charlotte. :D



Its easier to see where the taxpayer monies come into play when we take a look at the renovations being done over a period of 10 years to Buckingham Palace.



"Funding for a multimillion-pound refurbishment of Buckingham Palace has been approved by MPs. They backed changes to the Sovereign Grant - the funding formula for the monarchy's official duties - by 464 votes to 56. The grant will increase by 66% to pay for the £369m refurbishment."



https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-3802551...alace is to undergo,work, to begin next April.
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Many thanks for reinforcing the point. So generous of you.
 
Mbruno said:
The BBC is reporting that the Duke of Sussex has now repaid in full the cost of renovating Frogmore Cottage.

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-54062799

The following excerpt from the BBC article is worth quoting.
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Rather like The Yorks place Sunninghill. There are reports that they may use Frogmore, I really don't see the point unless they are going to be back for month or 2 at a time.
 
In regards to the percentage of asset from Crown Estate, Daniel Martin, policy editor of the Daily Mail has tweeted out a screenshot of the paper along with his tweet

Daniel Martin @Daniel_J_Martin
EXC: Treasury to spend millions propping up Queen’s income after her property loses money thanks to coronavirus
7:14 AM · Sep 24, 2020·Twitter for iPhone​

https://twitter.com/x/status/1308877383966035969

According to this article, the percentage of Sovereign Grant is 25% (up 10% from 15% in the early 2010s)

I'm not quite if Daniel Martin is stirring up trouble or just reporting the truth. :ermm::wacko::huh:
 
More press coverage today: ““These figures don’t disclose the daily abuse of money on shorter trips around the country, taking helicopters when they could go by car, driving when they could go by train. The figures also ignore security, revenue lost from the two Duchies, costs met by local councils and much more. Add those figures in and £345m is much closer to the truth.”


https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news...fter-35m-pandemic-blow?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other
 
For so far the framing of the Dutch as "the most expensive monarchy". It really is about transparence and what is the basis for any calculation of costs.
 
Dalriada said:
More press coverage today: ““These figures don’t disclose the daily abuse of money on shorter trips around the country, taking helicopters when they could go by car, driving when they could go by train. The figures also ignore security, revenue lost from the two Duchies, costs met by local councils and much more. Add those figures in and £345m is much closer to the truth.”


https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news...fter-35m-pandemic-blow?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other
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Thank you for the article. The Daily Mail has also mentioned it yesterday (or the day before).

Like a lot of newspaper publications, they seem to be mistaken on the how the sovereign grant works. The sovereign grant is NOT taxpayer-founded. It is the 25% (as of 2016) of the annual Crown Estate's profit. The rest of 75% goes to HM's Treasury in which the government (or more likely Chancellor of the Exchequer) can decide what to spend on.

The Queen will receive £86.3m from the taxpayer-funded sovereign grant next year for both official duties and palace refurbishment. Though Crown Estate profits are expected to be lower, she will receive the same in 2022-23, as under the 2012 funding formula, the amount can never go down.​

I apologise if I have been repeating the same sentence. These newspaper publication seriously need to get this thing right.

I am not surprised that the profit of Crown Estate has gone down due to COVID-19. Increase the number of tours in Buckingham Palace, other Crown Estate properties or even the Queen's private properties (Sandringham House & Balmoral Castle) is definitely not an option. In most cases, indoor tours cannot happen because of COVID restriction.

Like the article has mentioned, the income from Royal Collection Trust (RCT) and Duchy of Cornwall has also fallen.

I am not quite sure if the current Chancellor (Rt Hon. Rishi Sunak MP) will change the percentage of Crown Estate's profit that goes into the Sovereign Grant. I don't think increasing the rate greater than 25% will not sit well with the public. Conversely, I don't think Mr. Sunak will decrease the rate, given that George Osbourne (former Chancellor from the Conservative Party) increase it from 15%.
 
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Financial reports 2019-20

The Royal Household has published their annual financial statement, the Sovereign Grant Report, for the financial year 2019-20. There are three PDF documents (Sovereign Grant Report 2019-20: Summary, Full Sovereign Grant Report 2019-20 and Sovereign Grant Report 2019-20: Royal Travel appendix). The website from the link below also listed the key financial details.

https://www.royal.uk/financial-reports-2019-20
 
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