The Windsor clan suffered two blows last week, suggesting that its hold on Britain may be weakening.
On Friday a High Court judged said that the actions of Charles Windsor in blocking modern architecture for an upscale property development in London had been “unexpected and unwelcome”. The judge ruled in favour of a claim by CPC, the developers, for breach of contract. Its plans had been dropped after Mr. Windsor appealed to the feudal rulers of Quatar, the source of finance for the development. The judge said that Windsor’s intervention had put both CPC and the financiers in a “very difficult position”.
A letter from Windsor to the prime minister of Quatar was made public in court. Allegations were made that the Quatari finance firm had destroyed email evidence and that witnesses had lied under oath. The judge said that it could not be determined whether emails had been destroyed but described witnesses as unreliable and dishonest.
It is highly unusual for Windsor family manoeuvring of this kind to be subject to such public exposure and for the courts to take the side of their critics. The case was widely seen as confirming that while their apologists describe them as a benign and neutral force they use their behind-the-scenes power to gain advantage.
In the other setback for the feudal institution the Chancellor of the Exchequer resisted Windsor pleas for more of taxpayers’ money. He said that the “civil list” payments would not be increased from £7.9m. The Chancellor also announced that the family’s accounts would be opened to public inspection and that the way they are funded would be changed from 2010.
The total cost of the feudal institution has been estimates at £110m a year. Elizabeth Windsor and her son Charles are paid almost £28m annually in spending money, income from the investments of the “duchies” of Cornwall and Lancaster.