full year in 2002 and subsequently. Costs have been transferred to the
Civil List from other funding sources in order to utilise the Civil List
reserve brought forward at 1st January 2001. Head of State expenditure has
reduced from Ј84.6 million (expressed in current pounds) in 1991-92, a
reduction of 58%.
SOURCES OF FUNDING
The four sources of funding of The Queen, or officials of the Royal
Household acting on Her Majesty's behalf, are: the Civil List, the Grants-
in-Aid for upkeep of Royal Palaces and for Royal travel, the Privy Purse
and The Queen's personal wealth and income.
FINANCIAL ARRANGEMENTS OF THE PRINCE OF WALES
The Prince of Wales does not receive any money from the State. Instead,
he receives the annual net surplus of the Duchy of Cornwall and uses it to
meet the costs of all aspects of his public and private commitments, and
those of Prince William and Prince Harry.
The Duchy's name is derived from the Earldom of Cornwall, which Edward
III elevated to a duchy in 1337. The Duchy's founding charter included the
gift of estates spread throughout England. It also stated that the Duchy
should be in the stewardship of the Heir Apparent, to provide the Heir with
an income independent of the Sovereign or the State.
After 660 years, the Duchy's land holdings have become more diversified,
but the Duchy is still predominantly an agricultural estate. Today, it
consists of around 57,000 hectares, mostly in the South of England. It is
run on a commercial basis, as prescribed by the parliamentary legislation
which governs its activities.
Prince Charles became the 24th Duke of Cornwall on The Queen's accession
in 1952. He is in effect a trustee, and is not entitled to the proceeds of
disposals of assets. The Prince must pass on the estate intact, so that it
continues to provide an income from its assets for future Dukes of
Cornwall.
The Duchy's net surplus for the year to 31 March 2002 was Ј7,827,000. As
a Crown body, the Duchy is tax exempt, but The Prince of Wales voluntarily
pays income tax (currently at 40%) on his taxable income from it.
FINANCES OF THE OTHER MEMBERS OF THE ROYAL FAMILY
Under the Civil List Acts, The Duke of Edinburgh receives an annual
parliamentary allowance to enable him to carry out public duties. Since
1993, The Queen has repaid to the Treasury the annual parliamentary
allowances received by other members of the Royal family.
The annual amounts payable to members of the Royal family (which are set
every ten years) were reset at their 1990 levels for the next ten years,
until December 2010. Apart from an increase of Ј45,000 on the occasion of
The Earl of Wessex's marriage, these amounts remain as follows:
Parliamentary annuity (not repaid by The Queen)
|HRH The Duke of Edinburgh | Ј359,000 |
Parliamentary annuities (repaid by The Queen)
|HRH The Duke of York |Ј249,000 |
|HRH The Earl of Wessex |Ј141,000 |
|HRH The Princess Royal |Ј228,000 |
|HRH Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester |Ј87,000 |
|TRH The Duke and Duchess of Gloucester | |
|TRH The Duke and Duchess of Kent HRH Princess Alexandra, Hon.|*Ј636,000 |
|Lady Ogilvy | |
* Of the Ј636,000, Ј175,000 is provided by The Queen to The Duke and
Duchess of Gloucester, Ј236,000 to The Duke and Duchess of Kent and
Ј225,000 to Princess Alexandra.
As with the Civil List itself, most of these sums are spent on staff who
support public engagements and correspondence.
TAXATION
The Queen has always been subject to Value Added Tax and other indirect
taxes and she has paid local rates (Council Tax) on a voluntary basis. In
1992, however, The Queen offered to pay income tax and capital gains tax on
a voluntary basis. As from 1993, her personal income has been taxable as
for any taxpayer and the Privy Purse is fully taxable, subject to a
deduction for official expenditure. The Civil List and the Grants-in-Aid
are not remuneration for The Queen and are thus disregarded for tax.
Although The Queen's estate will be subject to Inheritance Tax, bequests
from Sovereign to Sovereign are exempt. This is because constitutional
impartiality requires an appropriate degree of financial independence for
the Sovereign and because the Sovereign is unable to generate significant
new wealth through earnings or business activities. Also, the Sovereign
cannot retire and so cannot mitigate Inheritance Tax by passing on assets
at an early stage to his or her successor.
As a Crown body, the Duchy of Cornwall is tax exempt, but since 1969 The
Prince of Wales has made voluntary contributions to the Exchequer. As from
1993, The Prince's income from the Duchy has been fully subject to tax on a
voluntary basis. He has always paid tax, including income tax, in all other
respects.
ROYAL ASSETS
The Queen does not 'own' the Royal Palaces, art treasures from the Royal
Collection, jewellery heirlooms and the Crown Jewels, all of which are held
by Her Majesty as Sovereign and not as an individual. They must be passed
on to The Queen's successor in due course. The Queen and some members of
the Royal Family past and present have made private collections - such as
the stamp collection begun by George V. This is separate to the Royal
Collection, although exhibitions and loans of stamps are sometimes made.
SYMBOLS
Many of the most familiar objects and events in national life incorporate
Royal symbols or represent the Monarchy in some way. Flags, coats of arms,
the crowns and treasures used at coronations and some ceremonies, stamps,
coins and the singing of the national anthem have strong associations with
the Monarchy and play a significant part in our daily existence. Other
objects - such as the Great Seal of the Realm - may be less familiar to the
general public but still have a powerful symbolic role.
NATIONAL ANTHEM
'God Save The King' was a patriotic song first publicly performed in
London in 1745, which came to be referred to as the National Anthem from
the beginning of the nineteenth century. The words and tune are anonymous,
and may date back to the seventeenth century.
In September 1745 the 'Young Pretender' to the British Throne, Prince
Charles Edward Stuart, defeated the army of King George II at Prestonpans,
near Edinburgh. In a fit of patriotic fervour after news of Prestonpans had
reached London, the leader of the band at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane,
arranged 'God Save The King' for performance after a play. It was a
tremendous success and was repeated nightly thereafter. This practice soon
spread to other theatres, and the custom of greeting the Monarch with the
song as he or she entered a place of public entertainment was thus
established.
There is no authorised version of the National Anthem as the words are a
matter of tradition. Additional verses have been added down the years, but
these are rarely used. The words used are those sung in 1745, substituting
'Queen' for 'King' where appropriate. On official occasions, only the first
verse is usually sung, as follows:
God save our gracious Queen!
Long live our noble Queen!
God save the Queen!
Send her victorious,
Happy and glorious,
Long to reign over us,
God save the Queen.
An additional verse is occasionally sung:
Thy choicest gifts in store
On her be pleased to pour,
Long may she reign.
May she defend our laws,
And ever give us cause,
To sing with heart and voice,
God save the Queen.
The British tune has been used in other countries - as European visitors
to Britain in the eighteenth century noticed the advantage of a country
possessing such a recognised musical symbol - including Germany, Russia,
Switzerland and America (where use of the tune continued after
independence). Some 140 composers, including Beethoven, Haydn and Brahms,
have used the tune in their compositions.
ROYAL WARRANTS
Royal Warrants are granted to people or companies who have regularly
supplied goods or services for a minimum of five consecutive years to The
Queen, The Duke of Edinburgh, Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother or The
Prince of Wales. They are advised by the Lord Chamberlain who is head of
the Royal Household and chairman of the Royal Household Tradesmen's
Warrants Committee. Each of these four members of the Royal family can
grant only one warrant to any individual business. However, a business may
hold warrants from more than one member of the Royal family and a handful
of companies holds all four.
The warrants are a mark of recognition that tradesmen are regular
suppliers of goods and services to the Royal households. Strict regulations
govern the warrant, which allows the grantee or his company to use the
legend 'By Appointment' and display the Royal Arms on his products, such as
stationery, advertisements and other printed material, in his or her
premises and on delivery vehicles.
A Royal Warrant is initially granted for five years, after which time it
comes up for review by the Royal Household Tradesmen's Warrants Committee.
Warrants may not be renewed if the quality or supply for the product or
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