King Charles is clamping down on royal spending so they won’t be any more pampering when it comes to finance for royalties.
According to the Evening Standard, King Charles is going to trim the monarchy’s finance and this includes getting rid of subsidized rental and housing.
Sources say Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s eviction from Frogmore Cottage earlier this month is just the start of the cost-cutting exercise.
Two members of the palace staff, Vice Admiral Sir Tony Johnstone-Burt, Master of the Household and the Keeper of the Privy Purse Sir Michael Stevens have been tasked with looking at inefficiencies in the “top-heavy royal household”.
Charles And The Monarchy
Apparently several members of the royal family have been enjoying subsidized accommodation for London apartments and that is expected to end.
“Over time, that is going to change. Properties will be let at commercial rates going forward and to people outside the family. Where it is in a palace environment they will of course be security vetted,” said one source.
Charles wants a monarchy that is fit for purpose. “The boss wants effective people in effective positions doing effective jobs being paid appropriately,” said the source.
To achieve this King Charles is working closely with Prince William.
According to royal expert Katie Nicholl in an interview with Entertainment Today, “The royal family’s wealth is estimated to be collectively about $442 million, which sound pretty conservative, I think, when you think of the Royal Family, and their wealth, and their gems, and their art collection, and their palaces.”
“Remember not all of them are owned by them personally… Part of the problem with estimating the royal family’s wealth is that no one really knows the true value of those priceless Canaletto [paintings[ hanging in Buckingham Palace or the royal collection.”
Nicholl said that a lot of the items belong to the nation and not the royal family themselves.
“Forbes magazine estimates the royal family’ wealth overall to be 28 billion pounds. The royal family takes the profits from the crown estate, which is their portfolio of land and property around the country, the rest goes to the government. That has proved a very balanced way of financing the royals. As of last year, they took, in terms of the sovereign grants, $99 million.”
Savvy Businesswoman
Nicholl also alluded to the fact that the Queen is actually quite a savvy businesswoman.
“I think the queen was actually a very canny businesswoman. Let’s not forget, she changed the way the Royal Family was financed. She voluntarily paid income tax on her earnings, thus diverting any criticism over the wealth of the Royal Family. She got expenditure down to the Royal Family essentially costing each member of the British public less than two pounds.”
“What’s harder to put a price on is what they generate for the country, the monarchy as a business. The business of royals is one of the biggest businesses in the world. For the royal wedding or even now, people are getting on planes, they are checking into hotels, they want to be in the capital, they want to be experiencing that moment in history.”
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