Royal Family Hit by Credit Crunch
02/07/2008
Even Her Majesty The Queen is feeling the effects of the current economic climate: she can't afford to decorate Buckingham Palace.
The Treasury has imposed a three year freeze on the budget for maintaining Buckingham Palace, Windsor Castle and other royal buildings after the cost of keeping the Royal family increased from £38 million to £40 million last year.
Sir Alan Reid, Keeper of the Privy Purse admitted the Queen was facing a maintenance backlog and could not afford to redecorate. Publishing the Royal Household's annual financial report, Reid warned of a £32 million black hole in funding.
"We were unsuccessful in securing more money from the Government. It was a major disappointment to us. That money was badly needed," Sir Alan said. "With no increase in funding for 12 years the backlog in essential maintenance has continued to grow."
The Royal accounts revealed that Royal Household costs are rising at almost twice the rate of inflation, reversing years of real-term falls.
The Queen's financial chiefs have responded to criticism that the Royal Family does not represent value for money by describing the cost of the monarchy - 66p per person in Britain - as less than the price of two pints of milk or a download for an MP3 player.
The Treasury has imposed a three year freeze on the budget for maintaining Buckingham Palace, Windsor Castle and other royal buildings after the cost of keeping the Royal family increased from £38 million to £40 million last year.
Sir Alan Reid, Keeper of the Privy Purse admitted the Queen was facing a maintenance backlog and could not afford to redecorate. Publishing the Royal Household's annual financial report, Reid warned of a £32 million black hole in funding.
"We were unsuccessful in securing more money from the Government. It was a major disappointment to us. That money was badly needed," Sir Alan said. "With no increase in funding for 12 years the backlog in essential maintenance has continued to grow."
The Royal accounts revealed that Royal Household costs are rising at almost twice the rate of inflation, reversing years of real-term falls.
The Queen's financial chiefs have responded to criticism that the Royal Family does not represent value for money by describing the cost of the monarchy - 66p per person in Britain - as less than the price of two pints of milk or a download for an MP3 player.
