The usually reliable financial newspaper The Financial Times (FT) has a habit of substituting deference for accuracy when it reports on the financial affairs of the Windsor family, which provides the UK with its heads of state.
The newspaper reported recently on the decision of the current head of state Charles Windsor to, in the words of the FT, “disclose his personal tax bill”.
This decision is an obvious response to disclosures about the financial dealings of his brother Andrew. According to the Windsor family spokesperson the aim to “encourage wider understanding of our accountability”.
The FT tells us that Charles will reveal the “total tax he paid on personal profits from holdings such as the Duchy of Lancaster”. Readers might easily think that the Duchy is Windsor’s personal property. In fact it is state asset from which Windsosr is allowed, as “king”, to skim the profits in a bizarre manifestation monarchical super privilege.
To makes the FT’s deference to monarchy worse it also tells us that the Duchy was a “private investment” of Elizabeth Windsors, the former head of state.
Finally the FT reports that the assets of the Crown Estate are “the monarchy’s portfolio of land and property holdings” rather than assets belonging to the people.
Mr Windsor might think himself unlucky for having to pay income tax at all. His mother paid none until 1993. He certainly is lucky to have the august FT transfer wealth belonging to the people of the UK into the sticky hands of his family.