Crown Estate Grab Pays Off
The Windsor clan is to get an extra £6m in spending money from the British people in 2013-14.
This is the first payback from a long Windsor effort to win control of the Crown Estate, a vast public real estate holding. The Windsors claim that it belongs to them and in 2011 Parliament set back British democracy by shamefully agreeing that the clan should receive 15% of the Estate’s income each year.
At the time the Financial Times reported that “A mood of austerity may be stalking Britain, but the champagne is still flowing at Buckingham Palace”. While the “austerity” has not lessened for the majority of the people the £6m annual increase may turn the flow of champagne into a flood.
In typical Windsor style they contribute nothing to the management of the Estate but when it has a good year they pocket some of the proceeds.