The Privy Purse is the

British Sovereign The monarchy of the United Kingdom, commonly referred to as the British monarchy, is the constitutional form of government by which a hereditary sovereign reigns as the head of state of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies (the Bailiwi ...

's private income, mostly from the

Duchy of Lancaster The Duchy of Lancaster is the private estate of the British sovereign as Duke of Lancaster. The principal purpose of the estate is to provide a source of independent income to the sovereign. The estate consists of a portfolio of lands, properti ...

. This amounted to £20.1 million in net income for the year to 31 March 2018.

Overview

The Duchy is a landed estate of approximately 46,000 acres (200 square kilometres) held in trust for the Sovereign since 1399. It also has 190 miles (306 kilometres) of

foreshore The intertidal zone, also known as the foreshore, is the area above water level at low tide and underwater at high tide (in other words, the area within the tidal range). This area can include several types of habitats with various specie ...

. The Duchy was valued at approximately £533 million in 2018. The land is organised into the Lancashire Survey, the Yorkshire Survey, the Crewe Survey, the Needwood Estate and the South Survey. The Sovereign is not entitled to the Duchy's capital, but the net revenues of the Duchy are the property of the Sovereign in right of the

. While the income is private, the King uses the larger part of it to meet official expenses incurred by other members of the British royal family. Only the

King King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen regnant, queen, which title is also given to the queen consort, consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contempora ...

receives payments from Parliament that are not reimbursed by the King.

Administrators

Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster

The

Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster The chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster is a ministerial office in the Government of the United Kingdom. The position is the second highest ranking minister in the Cabinet Office, immediately after the Prime Minister, and senior to the Minist ...

, who is the equivalent of the chairman of the trustees, has for the past several centuries always been a Government minister, although this is not a requirement.Full list of Cabinet members
Friday 5 June 2009, number10.gov.uk
archived 2009-06-08
on the

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...

Keeper of the Privy Purse

The

Keeper of the Privy Purse The Keeper of the Privy Purse and Treasurer to the King/Queen (or Financial Secretary to the King/Queen) is responsible for the financial management of the Royal Household of the Sovereign of the United Kingdom. The officeholder is assisted by th ...

looks after the Sovereign's personal financial affairs. His title is derived from the Privy Purse (an embroidered bag borne by the Keeper at a coronation) which contrasts with his Department's present-day use of computers and up-to-date accounting procedures. He manages the revenues which come from the Duchy of Lancaster. The Privy Purse meets both official expenditure incurred by The King as Sovereign and private expenditure.

Treasurer to the King

In recent years, the office of Keeper has been held jointly with that of Treasurer to the King, who is responsible for the use of the

Civil List A civil list is a list of individuals to whom money is paid by the government, typically for service to the state or as honorary pensions. It is a term especially associated with the United Kingdom and its former colonies of Canada, India, New Zeal ...

, funds used to meet official expenditure relating to the King's duties as

Head of State A head of state (or chief of state) is the public persona who officially embodies a state Foakes, pp. 110–11 " he head of statebeing an embodiment of the State itself or representatitve of its international persona." in its unity and ...

. He also oversees the grant-in-aid from the Royal Household for the maintenance of the occupied Royal Palaces and for Royal travel. He is also responsible for the property maintenance of the Occupied Royal Palaces (such as

Buckingham Palace Buckingham Palace () is a London royal residence and the administrative headquarters of the monarch of the United Kingdom. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is often at the centre of state occasions and royal hospitality. It ...

and

St James's Palace St James's Palace is the most senior royal palace in London, the capital of the United Kingdom. The palace gives its name to the Court of St James's, which is the monarch's royal court, and is located in the City of Westminster in London. Alt ...

) and their gardens, for the financial aspects of Royal travel, for personnel matters in the Royal Household, for the King's private estates (which include

Balmoral Castle Balmoral Castle () is a large estate house in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, and a residence of the British royal family. It is near the village of Crathie, west of Ballater and west of Aberdeen. The estate and its original castle were bought f ...

and Sandringham House) and for the commercial activities of the

Royal Collection The Royal Collection of the British royal family is the largest private art collection in the world. Spread among 13 occupied and historic royal residences in the United Kingdom, the collection is owned by King Charles III and overseen by the ...

Trust (for which annual accounts are published).

History

In the past,

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It ...

's civil government day-to-day costs were paid for by the sovereign under normal circumstances, the monies in this Public Purse being raised from the income of the

Crown Estate The Crown Estate is a collection of lands and holdings in the United Kingdom belonging to the British monarch as a corporation sole, making it "the sovereign's public estate", which is neither government property nor part of the monarch's priv ...

lands and holdings. Under extraordinary circumstances, namely in time of war or during budget shortfalls,

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...

raised additional monies through

taxation A tax is a compulsory financial charge or some other type of levy imposed on a taxpayer (an individual or legal entity) by a governmental organization in order to fund government spending and various public expenditures (regional, local, o ...

. The system was to a large degree self-funding through the Crown's large holdings, taxes being applied only when necessary, and almost always at the risk of public outcry. Taxes were normally very low, and the necessity to go to Parliament to fund wars was an effective check on the monarch's power. As the role of the government increased in the 18th century, the Public Purse was increasingly unable to raise enough to fund the development of the country. In 1760 when

George III George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of the two kingdoms on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Br ...

came to the throne, it was decided that the whole cost of civil government should be provided by Parliament, with the Crown surrendering most of the hereditary revenues (principally the net surplus of the Crown Estate) by the king for the duration of the reign. In this system, Parliament was responsible for the finances of the state, including paying the Crown the

allowance to meet the Sovereign's official expenses. In the fiscal year 2007/2008, the Crown Estate paid the

Treasury A treasury is either *A government department related to finance and taxation, a finance ministry. *A place or location where treasure, such as currency or precious items are kept. These can be state or royal property, church treasure or i ...

£211.00 million in return for £7.9 million in Civil List payments to the Queen. In 2012, the Civil List was replaced by the Sovereign Grant, through the

Sovereign Grant Act 2011 The Sovereign Grant Act 2011 (c. 15) is the Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which introduced the Sovereign Grant, the payment which is paid annually to the monarch by the government in order to fund the monarch's official duties. It ...

References

{{reflist British monarchy Finance in the United Kingdom Monarchy and money