The King has asked for profits from a £1 billion-a-year Crown Estate wind farm deal to be used for the “wider public good” rather than as a funding boost for the monarchy.
Under the taxpayer-funded Sovereign Grant, which is currently £86.3 million a year, the King receives 25 per cent of the Crown Estate’s annual surplus, which includes an extra 10 per cent for the refurbishment of Buckingham Palace.
Six new offshore wind energy lease agreements, announced by the Crown Estate, have generated a major windfall, which would usually lead to a jump in the monarchy’s official funding. But the King, who highlighted the cost-of-living crisis in his Christmas message, has requested that the extra funds “be directed for wider public good”, instead of to the Sovereign Grant, at a time when many are facing financial hardship.
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As reported, three of the new farms are off the Yorkshire and Lincolnshire coast, with a further three in the North West. RWE, BP and TotalEnergies are among those having agreed the deals. It is not clear as to the exact amount of taxpayer funding the King has passed up and asked to be used for public good, but it is likely to be many millions.
The Crown Estate – an ancient portfolio of land and property – belongs to the reigning monarch ‘in right of The Crown’ but it is not their private property. The monarch surrenders the revenue from the Estate – more than £312 million a year – to the Treasury each year for the benefit of the nation’s finances, in exchange for the Sovereign Grant.
The King’s Keeper of the Privy Purse, Sir Michael Stevens, who manages the royal household’s finances, has contacted Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Chancellor Jeremy Hunt – his fellow Royal Trustees – to ask for “an appropriate reduction” in the percentage of Crown Estate profits used for the Sovereign Grant.
A Buckingham Palace spokesperson said: “In view of the offshore energy windfall, the Keeper of the Privy Purse has written to the Prime Minister and Chancellor to share the King’s wish that this windfall be directed for wider public good, rather than to the Sovereign Grant, through an appropriate reduction in the proportion of Crown Estate surplus that funds the Sovereign Grant.”
The Sovereign Grant is based on funds two years in arrears, so any boost in Crown Estate profits and new percentage arrangements would not impact the grant until 2024-2025. It covers the running costs of the royal household and events such as official receptions, investitures and garden parties.
The percentage increased from 15 per cent to 25 per cent in 2017 to cover the cost of a 10-year programme of £369 million’s worth of repairs at the palace. The grant goes up if Crown Estate profits increase, but it does not fall when they decrease.
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