Ladies in Exile: Counting Pence and the Prince of Wales

The Prince of Wales's annual review has been published and with it his finances up to March 31, 2011. It is a jumble of costs pertaining not only to Charles but also to the Duchess of Cornwall and the Princes Harry and William.

In an article by Stephen Bates, the Guardian does not hold this fiscal annum entirely in good odour, on account for instance of this rise in travelling expenses, which are partially disbursed by the taxpayer:

although the review indicates the prince travelled 34,000* miles on royal duties in the past year, to the end of this March – 9,000 fewer than the previous year – and halved the amount of foreign travel he undertook, the cost rose by £388,000, to £1,080,000.

*Officially 34, 287 miles.

The obvious, amateur question is whether there is not a good reason for the rise in expenses, or whether these expenses were incurred by (an)other member(s) of the household. Overseas travel tends to be undertaken at the behest of the government, for example the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

His income from the Duchy lands rose, too, apparently on a strong bond portfolio. Since about the only industry that is doing well (though food prices are also rising, and with a little rampant exploitation there are riches to be garnered here too) is the oil industry, investment in which would not correspond to his environmental convictions, I wonder at and rather admire his ability to find anything else that is remotely profitable.

Sir Michael Peat, who is the Duke's secretary, evidently admires it too; but when he observes that it is a 'fall in real terms', I assume based on my solitary catastrophic Macroeconomics course that, though impressive-looking, these figures would have had greater solid worth a couple of years ago. If I'm interpreting the chart correctly, using 2005 as a baseline of 100, the consumer price index shows an inflation of 14.5% in the past 5 years excluding 2011; it means that if you had 100 pounds in your wallet in December 2010, it was really only worth what 85.5 pounds were worth in 2005, so you might have to go to H&M (the horror!) for a pullover instead of Topshop. So if you're dealing with over £10 million, the decrease in purchasing power will be proportionately worrisome, and of course there are other economic factors likewise at play.

Altogether there are 132.8 persons in the household (up from 124) who contribute to official work; the income from the Duchy comprised almost £17.8 million and the taxes with value-added tax (VAT*), national insurance contributions for his employees, and council tax payments** £4.9 million. From taxpayers he received, through various avenues, £1.96 million. Contributions to charity and ecological measures, among them solar panels, have both been raised. I haven't read the whole review, but even in these general terms it's interesting and well-presented nuts-and-bolts stuff.

What has not been divulged was the cost to the Prince of Wales's household from the wedding of his eldest son in April (which was likewise paid for by the bride's family and the taxpayer), on the royal principle that the mechanics of weddings are best decently shrouded in privacy.

(* Proper pronunciation: each letter separately. Value-added tax is paid on goods and services at the grocery store, pub, etc., like Canada's Goods and Services Tax or like Germany's Mehrwertsteuer.)
(** The council tax is paid to local authorities and is known elsewhere as a municipal tax; it is unpopular and the Conservative government has been pushing councils to lower the rates.)

***

Table taken from the Annual Review:

INCOME AND EXPENDITURE

Year to 31st March	2011	2010
	£000s	£000s
Income from Duchy of Cornwall	17,796	17,161
Funding from Grants-in-Aid and Government Departments	1,962	1,664
Total income and funding	19,758	18,825

Official expenditure	11,406	10,723

Surplus after official costs	8,352	8,102
Taxation	4,398	3,484
Non-official expenditure	2,539	1,694
Capital expenditure (less depreciation), loan repayments and transfers to reserves	1,184	2,695
Net cash surplus	231	229

And, since His Royal Highness is a greenie:

SUSTAINABILITY ACCOUNT

Year to 31st March	2011	2010
	Tonnes	Tonnes
CO2 equivalent emissions
Household: sources under the Household’s control	1,523	1,581
Household: official overseas travel	438	1,479
The Home Farm	2,025	2,060