King Charles is in the midst of a reshuffling of royal finances, which includes preventing his family from getting peer rates on Crown estates, with a source declaring: “The King is not some sort of housing association for distant relatives”.
Her Majesty is said to see the eviction of Harry and Meghan from Frogmore Cottage as “just the beginning” of her plans to scale back the monarchy.
Famously, the Sussexes enjoyed a British home of grace and favor in the grounds of Windsor Castle and Prince Andrew pays £250 a week for his grand 30-bedroom Royal Lodge mansion. But recently, Charles reportedly decided to evict them both.
A key area earmarked for savings is said to be ending subsidized rents for royals, even for some working royals who are told by the King to pay off all their houses and “cut the cloth” accordingly by 2028.
Her Majesty is said to see the eviction of Harry and Meghan from Frogmore Cottage as “just the beginning” of her plans to scale back the monarchy.
Famously, the Sussexes enjoyed a British home of grace and favor in the grounds of Windsor Castle.
Sources told the Evening Standard’s Robert Jobson that Vice Admiral Sir Tony Johnstone-Burt, Master of the House, and the keeper of the private purse, Sir Michael Stevens, are in charge of finding the savings with Camilla overseeing them to ensure they after the coronation of May. the royal house will be run in the ‘Clarence House manner’.
One senior figure told the Standard: ‘It’s not about cuts, it’s about getting the best value for money out of those on the payroll. Sometimes, less is more.’ Another source added: “The King is not some kind of housing association for distant relatives.”
Harry and Meghan’s loss of Frogmore is just the ‘tip of the iceberg’, a source claimed, adding Apartments for royals like ‘London pads’ will also stop unless they pay the going rate.
The source said: ‘Over time, that’s going to change. The properties will be rented at commercial rates in the future and to non-family members. When it comes to a palatial setting, they will of course be screened for security.
After the death of his mother, Carlos ordered a review of how money is spent since taking control of the £652.8m Duchy of Lancaster fund, also known as the Privy Purse, telling non-working royals they should also tighten their sleeves belt.
The late Queen continued to support Andrew with private funds from the Duchy of Lancaster, but King Charles, 74, has made no secret of his desire for a reduced monarchy, believing that is what the public wants.
Her Majesty is even said to have paid her son’s multi-million dollar out-of-court settlement to Virginia Roberts Giuffre in February 2022, which the duke now seeks to oppose.
Charles and Camilla are keen to prevent these kinds of costs from falling on the royal house, but some say they’re not going far enough.
Harry and Meghan losing Frogmore is just the ‘tip of the iceberg’, source claims
Former MP Norman Baker, an expert on royal finances, said; ‘It is absolutely right that the monarchy is slimming down. It is inflated and it is much more expensive than any other, than all the other European monarchies. However, what is being suggested here seems reasonably superficial.
“The test is not if there are fewer royals on the balcony of Buckingham Palace, but if the use of public funds decreases and if Charles and William start paying taxes correctly. If he’s serious, Charles may start by agreeing to pay inheritance tax on the private possessions left to him by the Queen rather than exempt himself at a cost of millions to the taxpayer.
Earlier this month, Harry and Meghan adopted royal titles for their two children, who will now be named Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet.
Despite their repeated attacks on both the institution of the monarchy and the members of the royal family themselves, the couple revealed that they have begun using the titles they automatically inherited when their grandfather King Charles acceded to the throne.
Until then, the Buckingham Palace website referred to children simply as “teachers” and “ladies”.
Harry and Meghan are understood to have long been “obsessed” with the idea that the King could prevent their children from obtaining titles as part of a “plot” to degrade their security.
News of the Sussex children’s titles was revealed just days after it broke that Harry and Meghan were asked to leave their UK home, Frogmore Cottage, a move sanctioned by the King.
It further weakens the couple’s ties to the home country of Harry and the Windsors, which have been reeling from the couple’s repeated attacks.
The late Queen continued to support Andrew with private funds from the Duchy of Lancaster, but King Charles, 74, has made no secret of his desire for a reduced monarchy, believing that is what the public wants.
Harry, who stepped down as a senior royal in 2020 for a new life in the US, criticized his father’s upbringing in his controversial autobiography Spare, accused the Prince of Wales of physically attacking him and said the queen consort sacrificed on his own. PR personal altar.
Earlier, the Duke and Meghan used their explosive six-part Netflix documentary series to claim that Kensington Palace lied to protect William when it issued a statement denying a story that Harry had removed Harry from the royal family.
Harry and Meghan have yet to officially indicate if they will attend the King’s coronation in May.
And for the moment no one within the Royal House even knows if the couple will firmly accept.
It has been reported that they are currently weighing the logistics, as well as debating “the more personal implications and optics of each potential option in the context of a deep family rift.”
But the couple hasn’t said no right away, so the staff is planning for the eventuality that they, and their children, come over.
The Sussexes would probably stay one last time at Frogmore Cottage, their Windsor home that the king has asked them to vacate. They have been given until early summer to move out.
While many feel that his presence would be inappropriate due to his repeated attacks on the Royal Family, as well as the institution of the monarchy in the last two years, others believe that it would be right for the King to have his entire family, albeit divided, present. on such a historic day.
Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis will lead the King’s Coronation procession at Westminster Abbey on May 6, reports suggested last night.
The Prince of Wales’s children are expected to join their parents in a carriage behind Charles and Camilla, who will be in the Gold State Coach, according to trial documents seen by The Times. But Harry and Meghan have yet to officially indicate if they will attend.
Even so, the staff are making plans so that Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet can join in the celebrations if they do.
There is little chance that they will be part of the ceremony given their age: Archie will turn four on the same big day and Lilibet will turn one. A source said: “I’m sure they would recognize the little prince’s birthday too even though it’s her grandpa’s big day.”
And there are the unresolved issues with the Duke of York and how it is financed.
Charles will not leave his brother homeless and penniless and will continue to support him despite reports that Prince Andrew is facing ‘eviction’ from his £30m Windsor home, royal sources have emphasized.
The disgraced duke has told friends he will be unable to pay upkeep of the Royal Lodge when his annual grant of £249,000 is slashed from April.
He claims he will be forced to vacate the 30-room mansion, which also has a swimming pool, on 98 acres of land, by September.
Royal Lodge, where the prince, 63, lives with his ex-wife Sarah, Duchess of York, also 63, is understood to require extensive work.
He stopped receiving public money when he stepped down from royal duties in 2019 in disgrace over allegations of sexual assault by Jeffrey Epstein’s victim Virginia Giuffre, which he denies.
But it is understood that the King will not leave his brother homeless or penniless, but instead wants his brother to use his own money to pay for things. A source told the Mail that the claims appear to be based on “fears, not full facts”.
He is believed to have guaranteed Andrew an income, albeit a reduced one, and a house, and is also believed to have agreed to privately pay for the Duke’s security, estimated at around £3m a year, after the Home Office removed to his Scotland Yard team. protection officers.
The Duke signed a 75-year lease for the Royal Lodge in 2003 for a one-time £1 million lease. Some claim that he was offered Frogmore
