The Queen stands to lose a million pounds per year after European Union farming subsidies to Britain end because of Brexit, The Sunday Telegraph reports. Sandringham Estate, the Queen’s retreat in Norfolk, will lose around £700,000 and the lands around Windsor Castle will lose nearly £300,000 a year.
The Queen’s Norfolk retreat is set to lose £700,000 a year following the withdrawal of EU subsidies
The cessation of subsidies coming in from the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) will affect farmers across the UK when Brexit comes into effect. The CAP – EU’s system of rural support – benefits estates and country houses as well, and is meant to ensure a reasonable standard of living for farmers while giving consumers food at a good price. After the withdrawal of subsidies, MPs have promised financial support until 2020, but there is no guarantee beyond that.
An analysis by The Sunday Telegraph revealed the amount of subsidies received by royal estates in 2015. Sandringham was given£665,000, and the farms in Windsor were given £298,000, while Prince Charles’ Duchy of Cornwall received £129,000. The Crown Estate, which manages royal land, received subsidies of around £350,000, and will also be affected by the withdrawal of EU subsidies.
A source close to Buckingham Palace revealed that there had been concerns before the EU referendum about the impact of losing the grants and how the level of EU subsidies would be sustained. “I don’t think it was a budget-busting concern, it wasn’t something people were losing sleep over. But it was something people were conscious of as a post-referendum impact,” the source said.
Meanwhile, former Defence Minister Sir Gerald Howarth, who was in favour of Brexit, said: “What we all said during the Leave campaign was that all those currently in receipt of so-called EU money will continue to receive the same money because we will be saving £20bn every year.”
We must reassure the recipients – whether it’s Her Majesty or farmers – that they will continue to benefit from the current arrangements,” he added. “What Brexit does is to give the United Kingdom the chance to fashion a farm price support mechanism designed exclusively for the benefit of British farmers.”
The Queen’s Sandringham estate is made up of 6,400 hectares of farmland, 1,400 hectares of woodland and 80 hectares of orchards which are managed by eight tenant farmers. The revenue received from the estate, along with The Queen’s other private properties, the Duchy of Lancaster and the Sovereign Grant from the Treasury, are Her Majesty’s primary sources of income.
It was also believed that demand for stores on Regent’s Street and other parts of London owned by the Crown would drop after Brexit, however it seems that businesses are still queuing to get retail space in these prime areas.
Photo credit: ell brown via photopin cc
What the hect was going on before this was exposed? One million is a drop in the bucket, so the poor Queeny can pay up easily.
The Queen does not own Windsor Castle or any of the other official residences (Buck House, KP, Holyrood, etc.) – they are all owned by the British Government. So, it will be the British Government that loses money on *those* properties.
The Queen *does* own Sandringham, Balmoral and other non-official residences; so the business activities of those properties will lose money.
On this point, it helps to remember the unique duality of the British monarch. There is the Queen (or King, as the case may be) as public figure and figurehead, who’s on the stamps and the money, serves as spiritual leader of the nation, etc., and whose activities toward that end are supported by the British taxpayer — just as the American taxpayer supports the President of the United States in carrying out *his* (or her) official functions. Nothing new there.
But unusually for monarchies, the British monarch (and monarchies that, since olden days, have refashioned themselves after the British model) also has a kind of “private person” side that is not part of her (or his) public duties. These include the roles of wife and mother, grandmother and great-grandmother; and in the case of the current monarch, businesswoman. E.g. As Duke of Lancaster, she has her own private income that she uses to buy her own clothes. (The taxpayers do not pay to dress the Queen.)
But all of the public, official residences like Windsor and Buckingham Palace are government owned. So losses that might attach to them due to Brexit will be losses to the British Government, not to the Queen.
The amount of the taxpayer-funded Sovereign Grant is never publicly stated in absolute terms.
There is nothing to worry about, part of the transformation is the adjustment process. There is always a feeling of uneasiness , fear of losing the luxuries & necessities, but it is only temporary. One’s a nation was already adjusted, he will began to maximize resources in his own premises . Adaptability,,creativity and resilience were the key values to be applied for his own growth and development. Life has always low time and high time , just like a nation, we should always know how to endure the uncertainties , we should always be flexible and adaptable. Always be optimistic. Believe that everything happens for a reason & it always be for a better purpose.
I believe the Queen prefers independence rather than being beholden to others even if it means losing a few million!
Prefers independence when the taxpayer-funded yearly Sovereign Grant affords her family anywhere between £34m and £300m, depending on who is providing the figures?
Oh, a mere drop in the ocean for one of the world’s richest women. No need to reach for the tissues.