The Crown Estate, Sovereign's Grant, Duchy of Lancaster News

[wannable]

He has never had a strong desire to live at Windsor Castle, largely because of the noise of aircraft flying overhead to Heathrow.

But the King appears to have had a change of heart in recent months and is busy putting his unique stamp on the late Queen's Berkshire estate.

Workmen have been seen sprucing up Queen Elizabeth's private apartments, while staff have been putting some of her belongings in storage and bringing in many of the new monarch's favourite pieces of art and antiques.

In the grounds, Charles, 74, has also been expanding his eco-credentials.

New electric car charging points are being installed at several spots across the Windsor estate and thousands of new saplings planted.

He has poured heart and soul into its gardens and estate, which are now a visitor attraction in their own right and have raised more than GBP7million for charity so far.

Multiple sources said the King has now started spending an increasing amount of time at Windsor.

Rebecca English
Daily Mail

Charles begins renovations at Windsor Castle after not wanting to spend time there due to Heathrow | Daily Mail Online

^ Several new pictures of an old building construction site to a new building, thousands of new trees too.

[Princess Cassandra]

HM KCIII will always do well with resources available to him. He certainly showed this with the Duchy of Cornwall. I'm looking forward to all he will do with these funding resources. But unfortunately, there will always be people who misunderstand and are quick to criticize those who "do" rather than "talk". 

[TLLK]

Rebecca English
Daily Mail

Charles begins renovations at Windsor Castle after not wanting to spend time there due to Heathrow | Daily Mail Online

^ Several new pictures of an old building construction site to a new building, thousands of new trees too.

Definitely not surprised to see that Charles is planting more trees on the estate.

[Nightowl]

HM KCIII will always do well with resources available to him. He certainly showed this with the Duchy of Cornwall. I'm looking forward to all he will do with these funding resources. But unfortunately, there will always be people who misunderstand and are quick to criticize those who "do" rather than "talk".

I have always felt as did my sister that Charles is still highly underestimated, I think he is a brilliant businessman because of how he has turned the Duchy of Cornwall into a business that has helped so many people.  Sure there are mistakes made as nothing is perfect yet from all that I have read the Duchy is a money making machine that can and does help the people.  I think he will be a fabulous king as he has his mother's sparkling blue eyes that just lights up when he is among the people, more so even more for him then his mother at times. His sense of humor really comes alive when he is at events  talking, drinking and eating whatever is served.

[Curryong]

Don?t know whether this should go here or not, but it is about King Charles?s properties so maybe it?s OK.

King Charles has (according to this Telegraph article) started to process of selling off, leasing and otherwise rationalising the family properties. The only property he (and the BRF in general) has in Wales is the first to go. Great, the people of the Principality must be so proud! Imo it?s Sandringham, and increasingly Balmoral, he should be taking a stern look at. William, although POW, has no plans to buy a property there or take this one over. Instead, he?ll stay in hotels if he is in Wales for engagements. That?s likely to increase the BRF popularity, as hoteliers will be excited, lol.

King Charles gives up his Welsh home as he downsizes property portfolio

[Curryong]

Is this the correct thread?  If it isn?t could this report by BBC and link to the Sov Grant report I linked PLEASE be put in the right thread. Thank you.

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-66045447

The running costs of the monarchy - such as for official visits and residences - are funded by the "Sovereign Grant", currently calculated as being 25% of the profits of the Crown Estate.
The annual accounts for 2022-23 show this funding was ?86.3m, the same as the previous year.
But spending was almost ?21m higher than the Sovereign Grant, with palace officials attributing the extra costs to:
the continuing renovation of Buckingham Palace
extra expenses for the queen's funeral
the King's accession
rising inflation
The 10-year ?369m project to repair Buckingham Palace had ?34.5m allocated this year.

The public funding also covers the cost of official royal travel and visits, which included:
more than ?1m on 179 helicopter journeys
almost ?32,000 when the King used the royal train for a two-day tour from Ayr to Manchester
?187,000 for the then Prince of Wales' visit to Rwanda for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting
?146,000 for the King's tour of Germany on his inaugural state visit as monarch
But most of the visits were much more low-key, with:
2,700 engagements through the year
95,000 guests attending events in royal residences
Paying visitors to royal residences helped to offset some of the costs, with ?9.8m in income earned - still less than half the pre-Covid levels.

The Sovereign Grant Report 2022-23.
https://www.royal.uk/sites/default/files/documents/2023-06/Sovereign%20Grant%20Report%202022-23.pdf

And, with Frogmore Cottage vacated nothing there for the media to bash the Sussexes about. All the expenses for that twelve months, including over a million for helicopter use, and for use of the Royal Train, are on the current working members of the BRF and their staff and courtiers.

[Curryong]

And from the BBC report.

On average, about 500 Royal Household staff were being paid by the Sovereign Grant during the year - and there were questions about efforts to increase diversity, with the proportion belonging to ethnic minorities, 9.7%, showing no change since last year.
Royal staff received training under a "diversity and inclusion strategy", with concerns having been raised after black British charity founder Ngozi Fulani faced repeated questions about where she was "really from", at a Buckingham Palace reception.

[wannable]

In reference to the Sovereign Grant, Frogmore

Harry will need a permanent address in the UK if he is still interested in being a counsellor of state.

[TLLK]

@Curryong-Thank you for providing the link to the report for the past year. 2022 was a year that saw HLM celebrate her Platinum Jubilee and then her death/funeral. It also included the changes to the royal households and of course the ascension of King Charles III. Repair/renovation work continues at BP as well.
I'm not surprised that there was an increase in spending.

The Royal Family reveals jump in spending in year of history and change ? Royal Central

The latest Sovereign Grant report shows that royal expenditure went up in the last financial year.

In the period between April 2022 and April 2023, a total of ?107.5 million was spent, a 5% rise compared to the year before.

The Sovereign Grant covered ?86.3 million of that. The rest was taken from reserve funds.

The increased total reflects a time described by Sir Michael Stevens, Keeper of the Privy Purse, as ?a year of grief, change and celebration, the like of which our nation has not witnessed for seven decades.?

The period in this report includes the Platinum Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II as well as the change of reign to King Charles III.

The Jubilee resulted in costs of ?700,000 while Buckingham Palace covered an outlay of ?1.6 million related to the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II in September 2022.

The costs this year also include ongoing redevelopment works at Buckingham Palace.

The report also shows that the Royal Family cut back on other property maintenance and heating costs as inflation rose.

The Sovereign Grant is paid from the Crown Estate. All its profits go to the Treasury which then releases a percentage of them annually to the Royal Family. The money is used by The King and members of the Royal Family to cover their working expenses.

[TLLK]

In reference to the Sovereign Grant, Frogmore

Harry will need a permanent address in the UK if he is still interested in being a counsellor of state.

Yes it was confirmed that the couple have completely moved out of FC.

Harry and Meghan have left Frogmore Cottage, palace confirms | UK News | Sky News

At the annual Sovereign Grant account briefing on royal finances, Sir Michael Stevens, keeper of the Privy Purse, said: "We can confirm that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have vacated Frogmore Cottage.

"We will not be going into any detail on those arrangements here.

"Safe to say that, as has previously been stated, the duke and duchess have paid for the expenditure incurred by the Sovereign Grant in relation to the renovation of Frogmore Cottage, thus leaving the Crown with a greatly enhanced asset."

[wannable]

^ I'll be posting in my own words or copy/paste interesting tweets from financial, political, constitutional, royal reporting experts related to the Sovereign Grant.

*****
The Royal Family
@royalfamily

13h
The Royal Household's annual financial statement - the Sovereign Grant Report - for the financial year 2022-23 is now available online.

^ The first time the BRF make their 'own' availability statement, previously a note from BP would be sent to media outlets notifying the release of their financial statements.

[wannable]

According to the Sovereign Grant, Natalie Barrows is the Interim Private Secretary of the Princess of Wales since November 2022.

[wannable]

This is the hardcover - front page, printed version of the Sovereign Grant 2022-2023

(Never before has it been shown publicly in past SG's OR the info was printed and binded. I personally like that HMKCIII is making these financial statements a long lasting hardbook for personal and public libraries)

[wannable]

Just this tidbit of news from Richard Eden, the part of ''private estates'' Balmoral rather than the thread suggests to post crown estates, sg, grant, dol.

The rest of the article from Richard Eden's perspective is Prince Andrew's home and holiday home situation, which will be posted in his board.

King Charles III Balmoral

I can disclose that King Charles has decided to keep Balmoral open to the public for an extra two weeks.

This will bring significant new revenue into the estate,' says my man in the kilt and sporran.

Queen Elizabeth would always begin her summer holidays at her beloved Balmoral on the last weekend of July.

t's understood that the King will continue his own tradition of spending the first week of August at the Castle of Mey, in Caithness, the former home of his grandmother, Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother.

He may then head to Birkhall, his home on the Balmoral Estate, while he waits for the castle to close to tourists.

Balmoral and its 50,000 acres cost around GBP 3million a year to run - and opening it up as a tourist attraction between April and the end of July attracts over 70,000 tourists. But the tourist income only meets around half the estate's costs.

Balmoral is privately owned by the King, who meets its costs personally.

However, the estate, which was bought by Queen Victoria's husband, Prince Albert, in 1852, will now be open to the public daily until August 16.

RICHARD EDEN: Prince Andrew faces losing his summer holiday home at Balmoral | Daily Mail Online

[Curryong]

Regardless of what happens to Andrew, and I really couldn?t care less, but imo for what it?s worth, I cannot see Charles kicking Andrew out of his place, largely because his nieces come up to Balmoral every summer, especially Beatrice, and the whole York family stay together, including Fergie.

However, the bigger problem for Charles, then William and any who come after him, is that Balmoral is simply not paying for itself. You can be as super-efficient as you like, and I believe that the agricultural estate advisors are, you can pack visitors in as much as possible between April and late September. It doesn?t matter.

The facts are these. Balmoral is over a hundred and seventy years old. It needs continuous maintenance. In spite of the love Victoria and the late Queen and Charles?s had/have for the place, it is situated in an area of the British Isles to which few tourists travel in the winter, even Scots.

They wouldn?t and won?t come for exhibitions in Jan our Feb or Xmas shows in December. The weather in the winter in that part of Scotland is absolutely icy. I had a relative who lived in Inverness and every winter between November and March she used to stay with her sister in Devon. Of all the royal properties, Balmoral is the biggest financial drain, and official funds can?t be spent on it.  I can actually see Birkhall being retained in William?s time and the estate being divided, with harsh decisions having to be made about the castle.

[TLLK]

@Curryong-I have to agree that Balmoral is a huge drain on the monarch. Sandringham as the second private estate owned by the monarch at least has more year round opportunities for tourists and can have an extended growing season for its farms.

[Curryong]

@Curryong-I have to agree that Balmoral is a huge drain on the monarch. Sandringham as the second private estate owned by the monarch at least has more year round opportunities for tourists and can have an extended growing season for its farms.

Yes, though having lived near there, North Norfolk isn?t exactly the French Riviera either! I think Charles may well take it on the chin as it has so many memories of his parents and other relatives, but I really don?t believe that William is so keen on the place. I do think they will keep Birkhall which is a manageable home, and some of the other properties on the estate but a very old castle will be even more of a burden in 20 odd years, regardless of whether Scotland remains in the UK or not.

[TLLK]

King Charles to take smaller cut from crown estate as windfarm profits soar | King Charles III | The Guardian

King Charles has agreed to take a smaller share of the crown estate?s profits ahead of a multibillion-pound windfall from Britain?s offshore windfarms.

The Treasury said it would halve the proportion of the crown estate?s profits paid to the royal household through the sovereign grant, which will fall from 25% in recent years to 12% from next year.

The monarch is still expected to take an ?86.3m cut from the crown estate, in line with this year?s grant, because profits made by the crown estate from leasing the seabed to offshore wind developers are expected to soar in the coming years.

The decision to shrink the sovereign grant was made by the royal trustees ? the prime minister, Rishi Sunak; the chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, and the keeper of the privy purse, Sir Michael Stevens ? after King Charles asked for the profits from Britain?s growing fleet of offshore windfarms to be used for the ?wider public good? rather than as extra funding for the monarchy.

The crown estate generated record profits of almost half a billion pounds from Britain?s offshore windfarms in the last financial year, up by almost ?130m from the year before, which reignited the debate over how much of the windfall should be shared with King Charles.

Hunt said: ?For almost 300 years, kings and queens have surrendered the profits from the crown estate to the British people, and in return the government has provided a fraction of that to properly support the king in undertaking his official duties.

[wannable]

Majesty Magazine & Joe Little
@MajestyMagazine

2h
The #StJamesPark' pelicans have been on patrol near Buckingham Palace this morning. 📷 Stuart Mailer



Not only the pelicans, but the grass, the flowers - it all looks nice and summery.

[wannable]

Private Estate

Majesty Magazine & Joe Little
@MajestyMagazine


The grounds of @Balmoral_Castlewill reopen to the public on 14th September with no admission charge.

[TLLK]

I can understand why the BRF needs the time to enjoy Balmoral as a family.  Especially as the anniversary of the late Queen's passing draws near. This is the time for her children,  grandchildren and great-grandchildren to create lasting memories in the Scottish Highlands just like their ancestors did.

[Nightowl]

Yes, if there is one place on this earth I would love to visit before it is my time, it is Balmoral, that place seems like heaven on earth to me.The mountains, the wild animals, the history, the very castle are just amazing.

[wannable]

👀

[Curryong]

I thought I knew royal greed ? but King Charles profiting from the assets of the dead is a disgusting new low | Norman Baker | The Guardian

Article about a little known law in Lancashire ie that people in that county who die intestate (without a will) and without close kin, leave themselves open to the Duchy of Lancaster taking their assets. I read about this years ago and apparently in the last few years eight million pounds has been added to the coffers of both the late Queen and now King Charles through this method. The Duchy of Lancaster has existed for centuries to give the monarch a source of income once they ascend the Throne.

REVEALED: How King Charles 'profits from the assets of dead citizens' and 'uses them as free money to do up his estates' | Daily Mail Online

?Three sources familiar with the duchy's expenditure confirmed to the Guardian that the estate was using revenues collected from the dead to refurbish its massive property portfolio.

One said that duchy insiders treated the bona vacantia funds as 'free money' and a 'slush fund'.

Properties identified as eligible for funding include town houses, holiday lets, rural cottages, an old petrol station and barns, including one used to facilitate partridge shoots in Yorkshire.

One document refers to the renovation of an old farmhouse to help transform it into a high-end residential let while another project saw a farm building converted into commercial offices.

In some instances, the money has been spent to buy log burners for properties owned by the king and rented out by his estate.?

In the past decade it has collected more than ?60million which - after costs - is said be distributed to charities set up by the late Queen?..
But internal duchy documents obtained by the Guardian reportedly reveal how funds are increasingly being used to finance the renovation of properties that are rented out for profit.

[wannable]

It is part and parcel to the agreement of surrendering the Crown Estate. Both duchies. Any parliament negotiations would have to return the Crown Estate as an exchange in size quantity and quality.

Like an eye for an eye. This is basic explanation when there is no survivor in the UK minus Cornwall and Lancaster it goes to the Crown, HM government treasury.