Queen Elizabeth II has been struggling with health problems for months. Now there are also financial difficulties, because Buckingham Palace had to dig deep into its pockets for renovation work, among other things.
Queen Elizabeth II and her British royal family must continue to save. According to the Queen’s private treasurer, Sir Michael Stevens, the global crisis situation does not stop at Buckingham Palace. The Keeper of the Privy Purse published the Queen’s annual financial report and spoke of a “difficult time” for the monarchy. Although there was a “certain return to normality” after the corona crisis, one must continue to be cautious in order to recapture the big minus. This is reported, among other things, by the newspaper “Daily Mail”.
Total spending was £102.4m last year, an increase of around 17% on 2020. According to Stevens, the increased spending can be explained by the fact that the royal family has resumed travel, celebrations and receptions. Remarkable: 41 percent of the expenses alone devoured renovation work on Buckingham Palace.
But how does the court finance these immense costs? On the one hand from a pot of tax money, which was still filled with 86.3 million pounds (about 100 million euros) in 2021. An additional £9.9m (about €11.5m) came from admissions fees and other fundraising activities. Nevertheless, a decent deficit of 14.6 million pounds (about 17 million euros) remains.
According to Sir Michael, this is not a problem at the moment, as preparations were made when times were good. The minus was offset by the Queen’s savings. The dry spell would continue for another two to three years, according to the forecast by the finance expert. Then the important renovation work on Buckingham Palace will be completed and better times will come again.
