Royal Wealth and Finances 1: Ending 2022


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Kate Middleton, Duchess of Cambridge's £66,000 Canada wardrobe is her most expensive | Daily Mail Online

Kate, 34, has been donning chic dresses and flattering silhouettes by London's most esteemed designers
The Duchess has worn some seriously high-end designer gowns by Preen, D&G and Alexander McQueen
Many of her outfits have cost upwards of £2,000 and her jewellery collection is equally as expensive
On Friday upped the glam factor with an Asprey necklace which, with charms, totals around £26,000
FEMAIL can reveal the total cost of the Duchess's eight-day wardrobe comes to a staggering £61,852
 
Let's count stuff she already had and not mention that the Duchy of Cornwall income pays for the activities/expenses of the Cambridges not tax payer money.


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^^^ I was just going to mention this. In other countries it's the tax payer who picks up the tab, for the Cambridges, it's The Duchy of Cornwall.
 
Let's count stuff she already had and not mention that the Duchy of Cornwall income pays for the activities/expenses of the Cambridges not tax payer money.


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Isn't the Duchy of Cornwall a tax-exempt Crown corporation ? If so, that is equivalent in a way to the taxpayer footing part of the bill.
 
From the Duchy's website -

Does the Duchy pay corporation tax?
The Duchy of Cornwall estate is not a corporation and therefore not subject to Corporation tax. However, The Prince does pays income tax on the Duchy’s surplus. If the Duchy also paid corporation tax, the Prince would effectively be taxed twice on the same income. Only companies pay corporation tax; many other large organisations which are not companies pay income tax.




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From the Duchy's website -

Does the Duchy pay corporation tax?
The Duchy of Cornwall estate is not a corporation and therefore not subject to Corporation tax. However, The Prince does pays income tax on the Duchy’s surplus. If the Duchy also paid corporation tax, the Prince would effectively be taxed twice on the same income. Only companies pay corporation tax; many other large organisations which are not companies pay income tax.




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In other words, the Duchy doesn't pay corporation taxes (as I said). The PoW, after much public pressure, now voluntarily pays income tax on the income he gets from the Duchy, but only after deducting what is labeled "official expenses".
 
The Cambridges are arguably the most high profile royals, yet they are given no official income. The money has to come from somewhere.

The Duchy of Cornwall is a well-managed private estate, which was established by Edward III in 1337.

The revenues from the estate are passed to HRH The Prince of Wales and Duke of Cornwall, who chooses to use them to fund his public, charitable and private activities and those of his family.

Frequently Asked Questions | The Duchy of Cornwall
 
In other words, the Duchy doesn't pay corporation taxes (as I said). The PoW, after much public pressure, now voluntarily pays income tax on the income he gets from the Duchy, but only after deducting what is labeled "official expenses".


Why pay corporation tax when it's not a corporation? There are plenty of actual corporations that aren't paying taxes.


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Why pay corporation tax when it's not a corporation? There are plenty of actual corporations that aren't paying taxes.


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That discussion should be moved to the "Costs and Fortune of the British Royal Family" forum, but, anyway, here is what Wikipedia says:

The government considers the duchy to be a crown body and therefore exempt from paying corporation tax. The tax position of the duchy has been challenged by British republicans.[4] Following the ruling that the duchy was separate from Prince Charles for the purposes of regulation, Republic, the campaign for an elected head of state, has asked HM Revenue and Customs to investigate if the duchy should still be exempt from tax. The tax exemption is based on the assumption that the duchy estate is inseparable from the tax exempt person of Prince Charles, which is now open to question.[47]


Since 1993, the Prince of Wales has voluntarily paid income tax on the duchy income less amounts which he considers to be official expenditure.[48] The Prince paid a voluntary contribution to the treasury of 50% of his Duchy income from the time he became eligible for its full income at the age of 21 in 1969, and paid 25% from his marriage in 1981 until the current arrangement commenced in 1993. Tax is calculated after deducting official expenditure, the biggest source of which is the Prince's staff of about 110 who assist with his performance of official duties, including private secretaries and a valet working in his office at Clarence House and at Highgrove House. The official expenditure of the Prince of Wales is not audited by the National Audit Office.
 
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Kate Middleton, Duchess of Cambridge's £66,000 Canada wardrobe is her most expensive | Daily Mail Online

Kate, 34, has been donning chic dresses and flattering silhouettes by London's most esteemed designers
The Duchess has worn some seriously high-end designer gowns by Preen, D&G and Alexander McQueen
Many of her outfits have cost upwards of £2,000 and her jewellery collection is equally as expensive
On Friday upped the glam factor with an Asprey necklace which, with charms, totals around £26,000
FEMAIL can reveal the total cost of the Duchess's eight-day wardrobe comes to a staggering £61,852
I like to see these pieces to see if there was something I missed, and I did, that gorgeous red sweater.
What an absurd article, though. They count the price of the tanzanite earrings and charms necklace and several other earrings she has had for years. Why not count the price of the engagement ring and the maple leaf brooch while you are at it. The funniest part was the price of another part of her wardrobe she has had for a long time, the dreaded wedges. They are now on sale for about 13 pounds!
 
Get used to the cost folks. These people are the future of the monarchy and they're working on behalf of the Queen and people.
 
I like to see these pieces to see if there was something I missed, and I did, that gorgeous red sweater.

What an absurd article, though. They count the price of the tanzanite earrings and charms necklace and several other earrings she has had for years. Why not count the price of the engagement ring and the maple leaf brooch while you are at it. The funniest part was the price of another part of her wardrobe she has had for a long time, the dreaded wedges. They are now on sale for about 13 pounds!


Those boots with the tassels she had since university. Where is the breakdown of William's suits and dad wear clothing costs. It's only ever the Duchess of Cambridge and occasionally George and Charlotte with the cost of their clothing. How much did Harry pay for those blue shoes or her majesty's hat from Philip Tracey? Don't the people deserve to know Daily Mail.


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Every day the Queen steps outside she's wearing many thousands of pounds worth of clothing and jewellery. Her least valuable brooches alone are probably worth more than I earn in a year, but no one says anything about it.

I mean what must the value of this ensemble been? £10 million? £20 million? More?
 
Every day the Queen steps outside she's wearing many thousands of pounds worth of clothing and jewellery. Her least valuable brooches alone are probably worth more than I earn in a year, but no one says anything about it.

I mean what must the value of this ensemble been? £10 million? £20 million? More?

That's because people have more respect for the role of the monarch. For some odd reason, people have come too obsessed with the younger royals wardrobe and cost for their official roles.
 
It's not the younger royals. It's one younger Royal- Kate. There is no cost listed for William's or Harry's clothing. The Daily Mail isn't going to be running a similar clothing and accessories cost breakdown when Harry comes back from his tour of the Caribbean. The Mail had an article on Bea visiting an eye clinic in Nepal with a brief description of her outfit but no prices.


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I would be willing to bet my last coffee cake that the prices listed for various articles of clothing that Kate has been seen wearing is the retail price from the different designers and as the probability of the item selling better because Kate wore it, the price may be higher than something she's never worn. We don't know how much Kate was charged for the items.

Designers and fashion houses probably fall all over themselves to have Kate wear something of theirs. Its very possible too that Kate has something similar to contracts with various designers she's happy with and, for lack of a better term, buy in bulk for a set fee. Like 12 Jenny Packham dresses for $x.xx.

I don't think at any time that Kate actually goes on shopping sprees and uses Charles' credit cards until they melt. The Daily Mail just likes to allude to the fact that her apparel is expensive.
 
I guess part of the reason people may be critical is that in some cases she is buying items nearly identical to things she already owns - the red coat for example looked to my untrained eye very similar to the red coat she wore when she arrived in New Zealand - okay that one had different buttons but otherwise the same?

I guess its hard when your a 'new royal' as you have to build up a wardrobe over a short period of time.
 
The media will always be obsessed with the Royal ladies wardrobe. They have to look good when on official duties. Just wait until Harry gets married. The same obsession will occur with his wife's wardrobe. The media will also try to create some friction between the two ladies and over spending. Some people will fall for it.

Catherine looked beautiful on this tour, but I think her other European royal counterparts blow her wardrobe out of the water when it comes to fashion and cost.
 
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The DM really is pathetic when it comes to women though. The Prime Minister is in Birmingham to deliver a speech and the Mail has a story about Theresa May's £215 Russell & Bromley black suede flats with metal toe caps.

In the 6 years Cameron was in office we never read about his shoes.
 
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The media will always be obsessed with the Royal ladies wardrobe. They have to look good when on official duties. Just wait until Harry gets married. The same obsession will occur with his wife's wardrobe. The media will also try to create some friction between the two ladies and over spending. Some people will fall for it.

Catherine looked beautiful on this tour, but I think her other European royal counterparts blow her wardrobe out of the water when it comes to fashion and cost.

Some might argue that would be because they do more public duties so need more clothes
 
Some might argue that would be because they do more public duties so need more clothes

Well, some might say that, but Catherine have a job to do and her job requires her to wear the best clothing. The reporting will get worse, because her wardrobe will expand even more once she becomes the Princess of Wales.

It do seem like the media is far more into Catherine's wardrobe than anyone else in the family though. Sophie's wardrobe has expanded and is expensive, but it's never questioned or reported on. The same can be said about the York's.
 
I've seen little articles here and there about Sophie's clothing and the makers, sometimes foreign designers, and have also seen William and Harry's clothing and shoes priced from time to time. Not articles about clothes for specific engagements but about Lobbs their shoemaker, where the POW also gets his shoes hand made, and the prices there and at businesses they are believed to patronise for their shirts, suits, casual clothing etc, so it's not completely unknown.

The York girls have their trust fund and Eugenie has a job so I doubt Andrew gets their clothing bills, nor those for his ex wife of course.

The media always concentrates on what a woman wears in comparison to a man. It's just the nature of the beast. Charles has always been well-tailored and well-presented but his clothing was never really mentioned during his first marriage while Diana's got headlines.

The publicity over Kate's clothing is probably partly because of this and partly because it's well-known that Prince Charles underwrites her wardrobe from Duchy of Cornwall funds, which the Press do mention more than once!
 
I finally got a chance to crunch some numbers in that DM article. A few of the repeats have been pointed out but I was curious about how badly they overcounted. So I looked at every item they listed with a price and totted up the cost of all the items that she'd previously owned.

Of the total that they itemized (£61,852), £42,252.59 was for repeats. That's 68% of the total "cost" as claimed by the DM.
 
The publicity over Kate's clothing is probably partly because of this and partly because it's well-known that Prince Charles underwrites her wardrobe from Duchy of Cornwall funds, which the Press do mention more than once!

Now that you've mentioned this, I've come to realize just how much Charles and Kate have in common. They recycle, they own clothing that is timeless and the clothes they have, although perhaps more on the expensive side, is quality made.

If anyone is going to appreciate good, quality clothing that can last, fit right and look good for years, its Charles. As this article says, he's the king of wardrobe recycling. :D

One's antique clothes show: How Prince Charles has always been king of wardrobe recycling | Daily Mail Online
 
I think the existing funding situation for the BRF is still far too generous. It seems highly archaic for the monarch and eldest son to receive so much money from the two Royal Duchies. These funds could be better spent elsewhere. Also there seems to be very little accountability with how the Sovereign Support Grant is spent. Obviously maintenance, staff and entertainment will cost money, but royal travel in particular seems out of control. It would also be more transparent to pay a salary to each working royal, unlike the old civil list payments which had to pay for staff and offices too.
 
Also there seems to be very little accountability with how the Sovereign Support Grant is spent.

Sovereign Grant expenditure is subject to the same audit scrutiny as other government expenditure, through the National Audit Office and the Public Accounts Committee.

The Keeper of the Privy Purse must keep proper accounting records relating to Royal Household expenditure.

The Keeper will prepare a statement of accounts relating to relevant resources used for a financial year, and give a copy of the statement to the Comptroller and Auditor General.

The Comptroller and Auditor General will examine, certify and report on the statement of accounts, and give a copy of the report and statement to the Treasury.

The Treasury will lay a copy of the report and statement of accounts before Parliament, and give a copy of the report and statement to the Royal Trustees.

The Comptroller and Auditor General will have the power to carry out value for money examinations of Royal Household expenditure.
 
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I think the existing funding situation for the BRF is still far too generous. It seems highly archaic for the monarch and eldest son to receive so much money from the two Royal Duchies.

The Duchies are independent pools of capital, with very specific rules on what can or can't be done with the capital. They are held in trust for the monarch and the heir respectively. They do not belong to the government or the people.

These funds could be better spent elsewhere.

By whom? The Queen, as Monarch or the PoW, the beneficiaries of these two Duchies.

Also there seems to be very little accountability with how the Sovereign Support Grant is spent. Obviously maintenance, staff and entertainment will cost money, but royal travel in particular seems out of control. It would also be more transparent to pay a salary to each working royal, unlike the old civil list payments which had to pay for staff and offices too.

See above.

In addition to being audited, both BP and CH publish and Annual Review that very transparently lays out their respective sources of income and expenditure, quite like a public company may. IMO, these two organisations are probably some of the most transparent organisations!

It would also be more transparent to pay a salary to each working royal, unlike the old civil list payments which had to pay for staff and offices too.

.. and bring the finances of the BRF under the direct control of the government of the day? In doing so, you will destroy the independence of the monarchy from the government of the day.
 
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