Tag Archives: Finances

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Countess of Wessex’s PR Firm Debt Not Fully Paid

  July 2, 2009 at 9:48 pm by

Documents have been released that show that Sophie Rhys-Jones, the Countess of Wessex, has paid only £5000 of the £1.7 million owed to creditors by her former public relations firm, according to a recent report in The Sun. Liquidators will officially close R-JH Public Relations by the end of this month. The firm owed £30,000 to HM Revenue and Customs, which will be written off. All outstanding debts will be … Continue reading →

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Duke and Duchess of Gloucester’s South Pacific Visit Costs Revealed

  June 29, 2009 at 6:23 pm by

Last August, the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester took a trip to the nation of Tonga in order to be present for the coronation ceremony of King George Tupou V. They also visited the Solomon Islands. It is now revealed that the cost to fly the Duke and Duchess to the South Pacific was £149,413, according to an article by the Press Association. The information was revealed in a report … Continue reading →

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69p Queen

  June 29, 2009 at 12:45 pm by

First it was Charles, now it’s the entire clan. The annual Civil List report has been published with the usual arguments surfacing about the role of the monarchy as an accompaniment. But let’s look at the facts first. The Royal Family cost the UK taxpayer 69p each in the 2008/9 financial year, a 3p rise on the 2007/8 financial year with the total cost rising by £1.5m to £41.5m. The … Continue reading →

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Calls To Extend Public Access to Buckingham Palace: Update

  June 27, 2009 at 7:48 pm by

Early this month we wrote about a proposal to open Buckingham Palace to the public beyond the two months it is currently open, in a bid to raise funds for urgent repairs needed, the bill running to the many millions of pounds. The Telegraph is now reporting that this proposal (by MPs) has been turned down because the palace is a place of work for the royal family, who use … Continue reading →

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The Richest Royals

  June 23, 2009 at 10:15 pm by

Forbes has recently released their annual list of the world’s 15 richest royals. Emphasised in the article was the impact of the credit crunch, real estate values plumeting and stock market difficulties with Forbes stating all in all the global recession has led to the royals listed loosing a total of $22 billion, 17% of the total wealth listed last year. More specifically, they state that whilst two of the … Continue reading →

Posted in Brunei, Kuwait, Liechtenstein, Monaco, Morocco, Oman, Other Royals, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Swaziland, Thailand, The United Kingdom, United Arab Emirates | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Calls To Extend Public Access to Buckingham Palace

  June 2, 2009 at 8:42 pm by

Buckingham Palace is to many an emblem of the British Monarchy. According to reports however, it is also a palace in need of some serious renovations. It is argued that the palace should open its doors to the public more often to fund the repairs and renovations. In total, renovations needed for the royal estate (not just Buckingham Palace) are expected to amount to £32 million, more than double the … Continue reading →

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Big Brother For Dutch Royals?

  May 25, 2009 at 4:10 am by

According to a new proposal from the Netherlands’ largest opposition party SP (Socialist Party), the members of the royal family have to explain precisely how they spend their days and what they are doing with the 119 million Euros that the royal family costs each year. Newspaper ‘De Telegraaf’ reports that SP parlamentarian Ronald van Raak will ask the minister of internal affairs, Guusje Ter Horst for a annual report … Continue reading →

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Zara Phillips in Sponsorship Controversy

  May 2, 2009 at 11:26 pm by

Recently in the Independent, Terence Blacker criticized European and World Champion eventer, Zara Philips, of exploiting her connections to get lucrative sponsorship deals for this very expensive sport. And what were these so-called connections? Zara’s grandmother, the reigning Queen Elizabeth II and her mother, Princess Anne, the Princess Royal. No doubt that when the world first heard of Zara, eventing was probably far from amyone’s mind since she was just … Continue reading →

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Liechtenstein Addresses Tax Haven Status

  March 21, 2009 at 2:54 pm by

Liechtenstein has agreed to address its tax haven status by adopting international standards on tax cooperation. The Prime Minister and Ruling Prince have agreed to talks with other countries in an attempt to remove the distinction between tax fraud and tax evasion. Hereditary Prince Alois confirmed that this decision had been agreed to between the government, business leaders and the royal family. The princely House of Liechtenstein owns the LGT … Continue reading →

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The Search For Romanov Money: Romanoff Gold by William Clarke

  March 18, 2009 at 5:05 pm by

Clarke describes Imperial Russia vividly and delves into the money trail meticulously. The first part of this book is the most interesting. Certain images stayed in my mind: beautiful Meriel Buchanan’s Russian admirer visiting her in a panic after the Revolution, the Tsar’s daughters enjoying their first dances and balls, and the final terrible journey and end of the Royal family. (NB) Reading how Clarke traced the money of the … Continue reading →

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Princess Astrid and prince Laurent Keep Their Donation – For Now

  March 10, 2009 at 5:29 pm by

The chairman of the Belgian senate, Armand de Decker (Walloon liberals), who is a member of the commission of parliamentarians who are researching the donation of the Belgian royal family, denies that princess Astrid and prince Laurent will not receive a donation anymore. Newspaper De Standaard reports that he also is critical of Pol van den Driessche, a Flemish Christian democrat who also is a member of the commission that … Continue reading →

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Queen’s Day Will Cost 645.000 Euros

  March 6, 2009 at 5:29 am by

The mayor and aldermen of the city of Apeldoorn announced that the total costs of Queen’s Day (Koninginnedag) that will be celebrated in Apeldoorn this year, will be 645.000 euros. Of this amount 377.000 euros will be used for the festivities themselves and for communication and PR around the visit of the royal family to Apeldoorn. The remaining 268.000 euro will be used for extra duties like regulating traffic and … Continue reading →

Posted in The Netherlands | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Who Will Pay for the Royal Wedding of the Year?

  March 2, 2009 at 2:32 am by

Last week’s announcement by the Swedish royal court that Crown Princess Victoria was engaged to her long-time boyfriend Daniel Westling brought much joy (and many cheers of “Finally!”) to the Swedes and royal-watchers around the globe. But in the aftermath of the announcement, the crucial question of who will pay for the royal wedding of 2010 has been brought up in the Swedish parliament. The current Swedish government has expressed … Continue reading →

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Airmiles Andy Strikes Again

  February 23, 2009 at 12:44 am by

What’s the difference between the Duke of York and a mango? A mango is flown thousands of miles and people actually want to see it when it gets there. Yes, Airmiles Andy is at it again with a little helicopter trip to open a bridge. Members of the Royal Family use helicopters a lot of course, but when their destination is only 70 miles away surely a car is the … Continue reading →

Posted in The United Kingdom | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

Liechtenstein Prince Accused of Tax Evasion

  February 22, 2009 at 1:04 am by

Prince Maximilian (Max) of Liechtenstein, the second son of Ruling Prince Hans-Adam, has been accused by the German tax authorities of evading taxes on investment income while resident in Germany, where he has lived since 2001. It is alleged that the Prince owes taxes on income from a foundation set up by the Liechtenstein ruling family. Prince Max denies that he owes taxes to the German government but has pledged … Continue reading →

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Twelve Foundations Managed from Noordeinde Palace

  February 20, 2009 at 6:17 am by

Twelve foundations and trusts are listed on the adress Noordeinde 68, the asdress of Noordeinde Palace in the Hague. This was written in a letter by prime minister Mr. Dr. J. P. Balkenende to the second chamber of parliament.   Parliament asked for an overview after controversies arose about an article in the Volkskrant about the money of princess Christina, youngest sister of queen Beatrix. Her money is on a … Continue reading →

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