Harry and Meghan's home renovations cost taxpayers £2 .4m

[Tony Gosling]

Harry and Meghan's home renovations cost taxpayers £2.4m

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-48746609
    * 8 hours ago - royal correspondent Johnny Dymond Tue 25 Jun 2019
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Emacs!


The Duke and Duchess of Sussex's home was 
renovated with £2.4m of taxpayers' money, royal accounts show.

Frogmore Cottage in Windsor was turned into a 
single property for Prince Harry and Meghan, from five separate homes.

The couple, who moved from Kensington Palace in 
April before the birth of their son Archie, paid for fittings.

The Queen's Sovereign Grant from the Treasury was 
£82m in 2018-19, with £33m set aside for 
maintenance, including major work on Buckingham Palace.

Excluding money transferred to reserves for 
future building work at the palace, the Queen's 
official expenses last year were £67m, a 41% 
year-on-year increase, the figures show.

A large amount of the rise was due to the ongoing 
renovation at Buckingham Palace, and work on the 
other occupied royal residences.

Separate accounts show the Royal Family's 
commercial property arm, the Crown Estate, 
provided £343.5m to the Treasury in 2018-19, up 4.3% on last year.

The Sovereign Grant is 
<https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/https://www.royal.uk/royal-finances-0>funded 
by profits from the Crown Estate.


'Our responsibility'

Frogmore Cottage sits in the grounds of royal 
residence Frogmore House, where Prince Harry and 
Meghan held their wedding reception in May 2018.

The 19th Century property was given to them by 
the Queen and the renovation paid for out of the Sovereign Grant.
    * 
<https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-48708179>Harry 
and Meghan split from royal charity

    * 
<https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-39280770>MPs 
back £369m Buckingham Palace revamp

Defective wooden ceiling beams and floor joists 
were replaced and inefficient heating systems 
updated. The house also required extensive 
rewiring - including an electrical sub-station - 
and the installation of gas and water mains.

The refurbishment took about six months although 
some areas are yet to be completed, such as repainting the exterior.

Sir Michael Stevens, Keeper of the Privy Purse, 
said: "The property had not been the subject of 
work for some years and had already been 
earmarked for renovation in line with our 
responsibility to maintain the condition of the occupied royal palaces estate."
Presentational grey line


Taxpayer-funded spending on the royals has been a sensitive topic for decades.

That's why Palace officials went out of their way 
to explain how much had to be done to Frogmore 
Cottage, and how anything over basic fixtures and 
fittings would be paid for by the couple themselves.

The Sovereign Grant is to cover the cost of 
official duties and for the upkeep of royal palaces.

However, some will ask, why did the couple have 
to move out of Kensington Palace?

And why, if they felt that strongly about it, 
didn't they pay for the refurbishment of the house in Windsor themselves?
Presentational grey line


The Royal Family's "core" sovereign grant is 
based on 15% of the net surplus of the Crown 
Estate, and allocated two years in arrears.

 From 2017-18, the total grant was increased to 
25% of the surplus for a 10-year period - with 
the extra funding intended to meet the 
<https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-38025513>£369m 
costs of refurbishing Buckingham Palace.

The royal accounts show the cost of the Prince of 
Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall's official 
travel by air and rail funded by the Sovereign 
Grant rose by almost a third last year to £1.3m, 
as the couple took on more royal duties from the Queen.

They also reveal the Duke of Edinburgh maintains 
an office with a private secretary and receives 
£359,000 annuity from the Treasury. Despite 
retiring from public duties in 2017, Prince 
Philip has an official relationship with hundreds 
of organisations and charities.

Separately, the Prince of Wales pays for the 
public duties of Prince Harry and Meghan and the 
Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, and some of their 
private costs, out of his Duchy of Cornwall income.

Accounts from Clarence House show this funding - 
in the year Meghan officially joined the Royal 
Family - stood at just over £5m, up 1.8% on 2017-18.
Presentational grey line


What is the Crown Estate?

    * An independent commercial property business 
and one of the largest property portfolios in the UK
    * The majority of assets are in London, but 
the estate also owns property in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland
    * Holdings include Windsor Great Park and 
Ascot racecourse, but most of the portfolio is 
made up of residential property, commercial 
offices, shops, businesses and retail parks
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