British people love roy alty and their queen – but it costs too much. According to a parliamentary report, the Queen is living beyond her means. Now the Audit Committee has criticized the spending of the royal household.
The report of the 'Public Accounts Committee' states that the royal family generates too little revenue and has too much expenditure. The energy costs in particular are extremely high in the outdated palaces. The royal family receives a kind of basic remuneration of around 37 million euros a year from tax money. There are also donations that are intended for special purposes. In addition, the royal family also has its own income.
This financing model has only existed since 2012 and is strictly monitored by the Ministry of Finance in theory. But the practice looks different: The controls are too lax, criticizes the parliament. According to the report, the palace is said to have exceeded its budget by a total of 2.8 million euros in the past financial year. The Chair of the Public Accounts Committee, Margaret Hodge, sees "great potential for savings" in spending.
The result of the high expenses: The palace had to use the reserves, which shrank to a historic low of around 1.2 million euros last year. Another annoyance: A third of the buildings managed by the palace are dilapidated. As of March 2012, her condition was "below what the royal household considers appropriate," Hodge said.
One way to replenish the budget would be to open Buckingham Palace more often to visitors from around the world. The palace is currently only open to the public 78 days a year and attracts around 500,000 visitors. That's not much compared to the Tower of London, which is visited by two million tourists every year. With the extension of the opening days of the palace, the income from the entrance fees would also be higher. Or the Queen has to be more economical.
