The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are renouncing the Sovereign Grant, but what about their income from the Duchy of Cornwall and royal security costs?

Big news everybody – the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have announced they are “stepping back” as “senior” members of the royal family and will work to become “financially independent”.

If your reaction to this development was along the lines of “wut?”, that is completely understandable.

The financial workings of Her Maj and Co are more than a little complex and their definition of “financially independent” is almost certainly a far cry from the general population’s.

So here are a few questions you might have, answered:

What are they actually doing?

A basic, but cracking, question. According to Harry and Meghan’s announcement, they are:

… step[ping] back as ‘senior’ members of the royal family and no longer receive funding through the Sovereign Grant, [to] become members of the royal family with financial independence…

Yes, but what does that actually mean?

Let’s start with a bit of background about how the royals are financed. Since 2012, the Sovereign Grant has been the source of money used to fund the Queen’s official duties as monarch, including any work by other members of the royal family that supports these duties.

This includes things like official receptions, investitures and garden parties as well as the cost of travel involved in royal visits. For 2019-20, the Sovereign Grant has been set at £82.4m.

In exchange for this support, the Queen surrenders the revenue generated by The Crown Estate – land and property across the UK – which for 2017-18 totalled £329.4mn.

The issue of whether or not the monarchy represents taxpayer value for money is hotly contested. The total cost per person in the UK worked out as £1.24 each last year and this has been rising. Read more

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