Victorian Politics and History/The Privy Purse of Queen Victoria prior to 1861

Previous | Home | Next

Transcript from original newspaper article: -
 
Per annum.
The Privy Purse of the Queen is
£60,000
Revenues of the Duchy of Cornwal
l 88,000
Revenues of the Duchy of Lancaster
12,000
Neeld Legacy of 500,000 l. equivalent to Prince Albert.
25,000
Parliamentary Annuity
30,000
Pay as Field-Marshal
6,000
Pay as Colonel of the Grenadier Guards
2,695
Pay as Colonel-in-Chief of the Rifle Brigade
238
Grand Ranger of Windsor Great Park (amount of emoluments unknown) say
1,000
Grand Ranger of Home Park (amount of emoluments unknown) say
500
Governor of Constable of Windsor Castle
1,120
Total
£176,553


This income is clear to the royal couple. Not one farthing is required for household expenses, charity, horses, carriages, palaces, yachts, &c., &c. – all which are plenteously provided for by parliament. It might be supposed that out of this vast income the royal couple could support and dower their own children. But, not so. Probably, next session of parliament, the ministry will make a “provision” for the Prince of Wales, and his elder sister is already quartered upon the public purse. Altogether, royalty costs the country, in round numbers, a million annually. And there are many persons silly enough to wonder at the Americans preferring republicanism, with its simplicity, economy, and efficiency, to royalty, with its attendant gew-gaw glitter, corruptions, and costliness. In the list of royal beggars whose names figure in the annual public income and expenditure returns, I find the following: -

The Duchess of Kent gets
30,000 l;
The late Duchess of Gloucester,
5,098 l;
Duchess of Cambridge,
6,000 l;
Duchess of Mecklenburg-Strelitz,
3,000 l;
Princess Mary of Cambridge,
3,000 l;
Duke of Cambridge, (in addition to his pay as Commander-in-Chief, as a General, as Colonel of the Fusilier Guards);
12,000 l.
The Prince of Mecklenburg-Strelitz condescends to pocket
1,788 l;
The King of the Belgians is down for
50,000 l;

The dowry of the Princess Royal comes in for 7,227 l. 9s. 9d.

The Duchess of Gloucester, although she left 100,000 l. to the Duke of Cambridge, was buried at the public expense, her funeral costing 2,000 l.

It appears that there is no less than nine hundred and ninety-five persons employed in the personal service of the Queen and of Prince Albert! Many of these – and the highest salaried of them – are members of the aristocracy, who literally do nothing to earn the high emoluments they enjoy. Thus, for instance, we find the Duke of St. Alban’s pocketing 1,200 l. yearly as Hereditary Grand Falconer to the Queen, and all the time she does not possess a single falcon! “The Northern Reform Record” truthfully remarks, “To pay his grace such a sum, merely for bearing a nickname, is downright robbery of the public.”

The aristocracy, in its political capacity, uphold every extravagance of the Court. And why? ….


The l symbol used in this article represents the £ (pounds sterling) and comes from L which stands for the Latin "libre".

Main Menu - Shop Online - Email Us