The expenses on residences of some members of the British royal family have been exposed by a new report from the National Audit Office while the British government is preparing to begin an investigation this year into the game of chairs that has become the distribution of the royal residences of the Windsors.
This complex mixed system between public and private receives its own funds from the monarch and the public treasury as it is considered part of the historical heritage of the United Kingdom.
For the moment, this report, the first on the subject in 20 yearshas revealed some of the amounts paid individually by various members of the royal family. He has also pointed out those who live for freeto those who pay a peppercorn rent (a “rent in peppercorns”, that is, symbolic) and to those who have generated money by illegally subletting properties surrounding the palaces.
What has caught the most attention in the report and is possibly the reason for the investigation, is the behavior of the former Prince Andrew. It has been proven that he sublet homes on the Royal Lodge estate while he rented it to the crown for a symbolic amount that did not pay during the two decades who resided in it.
While several investigations against him in the exercise of public functions as a trade envoy of the United Kingdom remain active, it has been learned that nor did he declare to the treasury the profits from the sublease of those three rural houses and it has not been possible to determine how much money he obtained.
The other controversial data has to do with his daughters. Princesses Eugenie and Beatrice of York, who do not fulfill royal obligations, They live in separate residences at Kensington Palace and St. James’s Palace, both in London, for which they don’t pay rent.
According to the report, their rent is set at more or less 65% of the market value that a residence in the center of the British capital would have, but the person who pays this amount from their private funds is not the sisters but Carlos IIIcontinuing an agreement established by Elizabeth II.
Members living without paying
According to the report, in addition to Kings Charles III and Camilla, There are nine members of the Windsors who perform official functions supporting the monarch – the Princes of Wales, the Dukes of Gloucester, the Duke of Kent, Princess Anne, the Dukes of Edinburgh and Princess Alexandra – and, in return for these functions, these members of the family can access first residences in the palaces free of charge.
Beyond these, there are three properties occupied by relatives who do not perform official functions, which are Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie and Princes Michael of Kent (cousins of Elizabeth II).
Apart from the first free residences for the Windsors who work for the crown, the royal house also charges rent when a member of the family who performs royal functions has more than one property within the palace complex.
This is the case of the princes of Wales, who pay an annual income of 307,200 pounds (355.760 euros) by Forest Lodge, their new residence in Windsor, for which they signed a 20-year lease last year. The couple also have another lease of Staff Lodge 1 on the Windsor estate, with an annual rent of around €23,000, occupied by a staff member who could well be the Spanish María Turrión, nanny of the couple’s children, since as was known last year she lives in a residence near Forest Lodge.
For his part, Prince William plans to introduce stricter rules on royal property, according to the report. when he ascends the thronewith the aim of ensuring that the monarchy is “fit for the modern era” and analyzing its costs. Proposed changes include preventing royals who do not perform royal duties from living free in palaces and banning their subletting.
The Dukes of Edinburgh, Edward and Sofia, They have a free apartment at St. James’s Palace in exchange for their royal duties, but they also rent the Bagshot Park estate with a nominal rent after the initial payment of £5 million to finance the initial renovation.
Prince Michael of Kent lives in an apartment at Kensington Palace whose rent Carlos III also pays. In 2002, there was great controversy when it was revealed that they paid a symbolic rent of only 69 pounds per week to live in the luxurious apartment, whose maintenance was the responsibility of the taxpayerdespite not performing real functions.
Government voices demanded that they pay full rent, but the couple argued that Elizabeth II had given them the use of the palace as wedding gift. Then a rent of 120,000 pounds (138,970 euros) per year was agreed upon, which the previous monarch would pay until her death and which for the moment Carlos III continues to pay.
Princess Alexandra, the late Queen’s 89-year-old cousin, resides at Thatched House Lodge in Richmond Park. He pays an annual rent of 1,500 pounds (1,740 euros), an amount that varies depending on the time elapsed, after an initial payment of 670,000 pounds in 1995. His daughter Marina Ogilvy has another short-term lease with the crown on a cottage on the Windsor estate and pays an annual rent of about 20,000 euros.
The Vanguard.
GML
