by Enrica Roddolo
The sovereign has informed the government that he intends to give up the profits to which he is entitled from the six new wind projects in favor of the population in need
“It is the King’s wish that the benefits of wind projects should accrue to all and not go to the Sovereign Grant.” With this message entrusted to the Keeper of the Privy Purse, in short, the office in charge of the King’s purses, and addressed to the Chancellor of the Exchequer and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, Charles III acted. concrete. After long declaring his support to the populace at a time of economic crisis and difficulties, strikes and social tensions.
A bold gesture that confirms the interventionist stance on social issues by the sovereign, who has resumed official duties in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, in recent days. To understand his move, we must explain what the Sovereign Grant is: it is the annual ‘funding’ of the sovereign’s activity, which it has replaced since the time of George Osborne, Chancellor of the Exchequer (when the tenant at 10 Downing Street was David Cameron) the “old” civil list.
And the Sovereign Grant is based on a percentage of the profits of the Crown Estates, meaning thousands of square meters of very high value real estate (e.g. the land on which the very central Regent Street in London sits, but also the St James area), plus 265,000 acres of farmland, 27,000 acres of forest, the Crown Mines, where gold and silver are mined, and all the seabed within a 12 nautical mile radius of the UK coast. Including offshore wind turbines. Companies that make profits, the king is entitled to 25% each year under the new Crown funding solution proposed by the Cameron government a decade ago: £86m (in 2021/22).
But the King is now announcing that he will forego profits from six new wind projects from the coasts of Wales and Lancashire to the North Sea. Up to £1 billion a year is expected to flow into the Crown Estates from these green energy programs. And Carlo wants to give it up. for the benefit of the population.
A move perhaps that also wants to balance out the coronation effect. Yes, because although it was initially announced as an inexpensive coronation, the coronation of Charles III. May 6th instead be the beginning of a coronation at court with all the pomp and tradition that ever existed. It was realized that the crown torn by Harry’s j’accuse never before needed the luster of jewels and tails. And even for the British people, after the years of Covid and then the crisis, the moment of coronation cannot betray the expectation of the solemnity of history, of tradition.
January 19, 2023 (change January 19, 2023 | 00:41)
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