THE MONARCH'S PURSE.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 863, 8 July 1910, Page 5

THE MONARCH'S PURSE.

LESS LIBERAL GRANTS THAN OF OLD. Tho grants made by Parliament to British Sovereigns have varied from reign to reign. At the opening of each reign tho Sovereign surrenders the Crown estates and tho hereditary revenues, receiving in exchange from the House of Commons a fixed income. The amount of that income is determined by a Select Committee, which lays delinite proposals before the House, and these proposals aro almost invariably adopted. The report of the Committee is published, but not the record of its proceedings. The net revenue from the Crown estates was lust .year <£520,000, and is steadily increasing. The yield of the other sources of hereditary revenue varies, but in recent years has been about .IMO,OOO. "The Dignity and State of the Crown. 1 ' Tho Civil List iif the later Stuart Kings was fixed at .£1,200,000, that of William ami Alary at X!) 00,000, and that of tho first four Georges to the same amount. But thnso sums included the judges' salaries, tho east of the Foreign Office, the Pension List, and tho salaries of Ministers—a great part of the cost of civil' governmenl. The, allmvancy wus qui to insufficient, and repeated applications imd to bo made to Parliament lor tho payment of the Sovereign's debts. In the casn of George 111, these amounted to <£3,398,000. With the uccetfsion of William IV in 1830 different arrangements were made. The Civil List was relieved of all expenses other than thofe affecting "the dignity and state of the Crown," and was' settled us follows:— Their Majesties' Privy Purse .£IIO,OOO Salaries o! il.M.'s Household 130,000 Expenses of il.M.'s Household ... 172,000 Kpccial and Secret Service 23,000 Pensions 75,000 ■£510,000 When Queen Victoria cmus to the throne further changes were effected. The cost of sucrot servico and pensions was removed from the Civil List, and the Privy Purse, or allowance for the personal expenses of tho Sovereign, was reduced to ,£OO,OOO, the Queen being then unmarried. The . items were thus arranged : j: His Majesty's Privy Purso ... fiO.OOO Salaries of H.M.'s Household ... 131,2(10 Expenses of H.M.'s Household 172,501) Royal Alms 13,200 Unappropriated 8,040 .£385,000

Queen Victoria also enjoyed the revenue of the .Duchy of Lancaster, which roso steadily from .£3001) a year in 1838 to ,£tio,ooo~ a year in 1839. But though sho exercised the strictest economy, the grant for her Household expenditure and for her Privy Purse between 1887 and 1900 proved altogether insufficient, and it had to be supplemented from other sources by some ,£15,000 a year. King Edward's Budget. On the accession of Kinpr Edward the Select Committee of the House of Commons, 'after careful consideration, recommended that the Civil List should be paid as follows: ii Their Majesties' Privy Purse 110,000 Salaries of ll.M.'s Household 125,800 Expenses of ll.M.'s Household 193,000 Works {maintenance of palaces) 20,000 Royal Alms 13,200 Unappropriated 8,000 .£■170,000 These recommendations were udopted in May 1901 by the Government and the House of Commons. But it'is to be noted that the grants were, on the whole, less liberal than those nu.de to Queen Vu. toria ; The demands on the Sovereign had immensely grown with the growth in the population; the scale of living had risen; prices in every direction had gono up Over and abovn the payments made to King Edward and Queen Alexandra were to the Prince and Princess of Wales and the King's daughters, and an annual chargo for pensions to the servants of Queen Victoria. Adding these items, tho total vote was as follows:— £ Civil List 470,000 Annuity to the Prince of Wales ... 20,000 Annuity to the Princess of Wales 10,000 Provision for the King's daughters 18,000 Pensions to Queen Victoria's servants 25,000 .€'543,000 Of this sum it was estimated that in 1901 only ,£33,000 would fall upon the taxpayers, the rest of (lie outlay being provided by the hereditary sources of revenue and the Crown lands. Apart from the Civil List, King Edward, like his predecessors, enjoyed the revenue of the Duchy of Lancaster, which in 1900 was .£OI,OOO, while the I'rince of Wales received the revenue of the Duchy nf Cornwall, which was ,£87,000 last. year. Some Comparisons, Grants have also been made by Parliament of annuities of ,£25,000 to the Duke of Coiinnnght und iliOOOli each tr> Princess Christian, Princess Louise, Princess Henry nf Ilattenberg, tho Duchess of Saxe-Co-burg, and the Duchess of Albany, and ,£3OOO to the Duchess of MecklenburgSlrelitz.' The incomes nf British Sovereigns are much below those of foreign rulers. The Czar is the owner of vast estates, which are believed to yield him an annual revenue of about two millions. The German Emperor has an income of .£770.000 from Prussia, and ,£130,0110 from the German Empire, but lie was compelled to announce to the Prussian Landtag in 1908 that bis revenue was insufficient. The Austrian Emperor receives .£780,000, I lie King of Italy .£lll 1,000, and (he King of Spain .£380,000.