Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1873-08-09
Oueen Victoria,

LoSpoy, July 23.-No one at the present
Iay knows exactly what are the private eSta-
,es'' Of the Queen. The estate of Balmoral
and the Osborne estate are known, and their
value can be estimated but there are 10 ad-
,}itiun the "Keusigton estates" of which no
,n, but the Queen and her private agents
know M ANYTHING When the plan for the con-
,tructiou OF the South kensington Museum
WAS first devised there were miles OF unoccu-
pied land lying around the spot chosen for the
great collection of buildings now Known as the
Exhibition, the Museum, aud Albert Hall !;
but there were other miles Of streets ouly part
" built and having for the most part cheap
and poor houses upon them. A little ring
was iormed-Prnce Albert, Mr.. Dixie latter
wards Sir &. W. Dixie and two or three 9TH
ers composed it-and by this ring the greater
part of this property was quietly bought up be-
fore the plan for the museum, ETC., was maze
public. This was more than twenty years ago,
The whole of that region is DOW densely cover
ed with fine houses, and what cost only few
hundred thousands is now worth many millions
Prince Abert's share of this is now the prop
erty of the Queen and these kenslngton es-
tates are in themselves a very large fortune.
Altogether; in money and 10 landed properly
to say nothing Of the jewels, her Majesty IS
supposed to possess something like sc. 100000
sterling, while no one really knows how much
She has and the amount may be & 1000, 900,
or even EGO. .0OO. 600, for aught any one can
show 10 the contrary.
Now it happens that there is j law called
'sthe Crown Private Estates act'-a law so
learfully and wonderful made that no two law
yers can be found TO agree as TO what 1t really
meaus One of its provisions, it appears, for
bids the Crown bequeathing to the heir. appa-
rent any of the private estates otland, although
these estates may all be sold and the money re-
ccivcd for them may be given him; and anoth-
er provision prohibits the Crown from dispos'
ing of any of these estates privately, al
though the lawyers are at variance with each
other as TO what 'privately may mean. BE
all this as it may 1t seems that the queen
wishes to do something with some OF her ,prl-
yatc estates, and that the law Is supposed to
stanlin the way of the doing OF this thing.
Her Majesty probably wishes to give some
thug to the Duke Of Edinburgh upon his ap-
moaching marriage, or perhaps she was some
other design At all events, she has consulted
her private lawyers, and they have recommend
ed an alteration of the law. Mr.. Gladstone Is
wi,ling-a bill for the alteration of the Grown
Private Estates act has been prepared, and 1t
came up Tor it's second reading in the House OF
Columons on Tuesday night. The so-called
"RcpubIican" members of the House had not
viewed this proposal with appreciation, and
debate occurred in which some curious things
were said.
Mr.. Gladstone explained that the bill would
enable the sovereign to bequeath any property
she might posses to the Prince OF Wales
Lawyers differed in opinion as TO whether she
did not now have this right; but the weight OF
opinion was against it. ln the reign OF George
Ill. Parliament had made distinction between
the estates held by the Crown as the Grown,
and those held by the sovereign as a private
persou; the former could not be a,lenated,
at pleasure, But it also appeared that the
sovereign might buy private estates out
of money given him by the State for his
privy purse (Iti suspected that the Queen
has used the money voted to her In order to act
like a queen TO buy property There might be
good reason for iorbidding the Queen to give
any property to the Prince of Wales-for it
might be well to have the future King not too
rich but at present, while she could not con-
vcy a real estate to the Prince she could sell it,
give him the money, and tell him to buy real
estate with it. All this was "a miserable shred
Of 4 system which either ought not to exist at
all, or TO exist in full force" 1t had been
urged said Mr.. Gladstone, that it was not con.
SlllutlUnal that great mass oI property Snouio
be permitted to accumulate IN the hands
Of the sovereign; that the sovereign should
depend upon Parliament, and that the
possession of great property would have ten,
dcncy to disturb the relations which existed
between the sovereign and Parliament What
he would say in answer was this, that there was
hot the smallest likelihood that the House
would ever undergo the slightest trouble from
the accumulation of nriyate wealth ln the hands
of the sovereign. They might have great
deal OF apprehension in the opposite direction
because it was only during the present reign
That they had seen economy in the management
o' The civil list. 1t was for the interest Of the
country that there should be economy 10 the
management of the civil list and tthere should
he such savings as would enable the sovereign
t. purchass estates here or there from the fruits
"t such economy, this was state Of things
Which should be most welcome.