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So how much has this state funeral cost us?
on top of the £102 million this year to keep the royal family housed, fed, serviced
I don't want to be an apologist for the Royal Family, but they are generally net contributors to the country's finances. The profits from the Crown Estate are paid to the government each year and 25% of this is returned as the 'Sovereign Grant' to the Queen/King. Apparently, the payments to the government have totalled around £3bn over the last 10 years.
I thought I'd seen a graphic on this thread showing how this works, but I can't find it. There's a long winded version here, though https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1063719/Report_of_the_Royal_Trustees_on_the_sovereign_grant_2022-23.pdf
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The revenue from the Crown Estate was given to the government in perpetuity by George III to absolve the monarch from the responsibility of funding government activities (and to pay off his debts). So that money is the government's and nothing to do with the Monarchy.
The fact that 25% goes back to the Royal Family was another political masterstroke by Liz and her advisors (who was pretty ruthless with this kind of thing). For the previous 200 years or so, the Government had to approve the Civil List payment every 10 years, which was becoming increasingly not a good look (i.e. " here's some more free money, Ma'am"). By linking it to the Crown Estate profits it makes it look as if they are doing us a favour; whereas in reality the profits haven't been theirs for hundreds of years.
So how much has this state funeral cost us?
on top of the £102 million this year to keep the royal family housed, fed, serviced