World | UK
Price spiral drills 32 million pound 'black hole' in royal budget
Costs for the monarchy are now rising at almost twice the rate of inflation, reversing years of real-term falls.
- By Sri Carmichael and Jonathan Prynn, Evening Standard
- Published: 00:04 June 28, 2008
London: The Queen has been hit by soaring prices, official accounts showed on Friday.
Costs for the monarchy are now rising at almost twice the rate of inflation, reversing years of real-term falls.
The accounts reveal a £32 million (Dh234 million) black hole that threatens the future of Buckingham Palace and other royal buildings. They show the cost of the Queen to the taxpayer - not including security - rose by 6.1 per cent to exactly £40 million in the year to the end of March.
The Queen is thought to have faced similar pressures on her finances, including soaring fuel bills, as her 60 million subjects.
The bill for foreign travel increased after a series of expensive trips by senior royalty, including a Caribbean tour by Prince Charles and Camilla.
Fuel and food prices are increasing above the rate of inflation, which is running at 3.3 per cent, with Bank of England governor Mervyn King warning of further rises. With domestic fuel bills predicted to soar by 40 per cent by the end of the year, the cost of a barrel of oil hit a record high yesterday of $142. Meanwhile, the Queen's budget for maintaining Buckingham Palace, Windsor Castle and other royal buildings has been frozen by the Treasury for the next three years.
Her finance chief, Sir Alan Reid, Keeper of the Privy Purse, said £32 million was now desperately needed to stop royal residences falling apart.
Courtiers had asked for an extra £1 million a year but the plea was rejected by ministers. The maintenance fund has been frozen at £15 million since 1991, a drop of almost 70 per cent in real terms. Sir Alan said the backlog figure did not include much-needed cosmetic work such as redecoration of the state rooms.
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