Royal Watch News

Queen Elizabeth gets 'pay rise'

Jun 22, 2012, 12:01 GMT

Queen Elizabeth

Britain's Queen Elizabeth is to receive a 16 per cent 'pay rise'.

The monarch's annual government grant is set to increase to £36 million from next April after the Crown Estate posted record profits.

The amount of taxpayers cash given to the queen is based on 15 per cent of the profits made by the Crown Estate - which owns vast areas of London's Regent Street, Ascot racecourse and 12 miles of seabed surrounding the UK - and the 2013/14 sum will be £2 million higher than was originally envisaged by Chancellor George Osbourne last year.

The new accounts show the Crown Estate increased four per cent to £240.2â??million in the 12 months to the end of March.

This year, the annual government grant awarded to the queen was £31 million, which included £1 million to help pay for the Diamond Jubilee celebrations.

The rise in payment comes after changes were made last year that saw the government scrap the Civil List and link funding for the royals to profits from the Crown Estate, as part of a new sovereign grant.

Previously, all profits from the Crown Estate went to the Treasury and the taxpayer.