The Bamberg herald. [volume] (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, 1914-07-09
WHAT 1T COSTS TO BE A KING.
Enormous Fortune Spent Every Year
to Keep Up Royal Establishment


King George is in negotiation with
the treasury for what is in euphemis-
tic official language termed IAN ad-
justment of the royal revenues" or,
in palmer language, an increased al
lowance from the nations purse. 1t
would, of course, be impossible, in
the present state of political feeling
in England and with an advanced
radical at the head of the treasury
for his majesty to apply to parlia-
ment for an increased allowance, and
even if this were done the chances
are that the application would be
refused.
But it is within the power of the
treasury to grant the sovereign an
increase in certain allowances made
for special purposes, and this is what
King George and Queen Mary are
now hoping to get the treasury to do.
King George, in regard to the
revenues he receives from the state,
is in a rather peculiar position. In
the late reign the annual charges for
what is called the Royal Civic List,
amounted to s2,000,000, but special
supplementary grants were made
every year to the sovereign to defray
the expenses of entertaining royal
foreign visitors, ordinary state en-
tertainments, but not private enter
tainments, such as shooting parties
at Sandrinkham, etc., and lighting
and laundry expenses.
King George on his accession
agreed to accept a special allowance
of s225,0O0 per annum and dis
charge all these extra expenses him
self. This sum was arrived at by TAX
ing the annual average allowance
during the last three years Of King
Edwards reign Of the expenses 1t
was supposed to cover and it worked
out as follows:
For entertaining royal visi-
TORS --.- .--- .--- -..-P ''''00
For state entertainments -..- 100000
For light $50. Zo,ooo
With regard to the expense in con-
nection with the entertainment of
foreign royal visitors King George,
by entering into this agreement, ap-
parently made an extraordinarily
good bargain, for since his accession
until the recent visit of the king of
Denmark not a single crowned head
had been entertained at the English
court.
It is true that the French presi-
dent was entertained by the king
last year, but the cost of entertaining
the president of republic is much
less than the expense involved by
entertaining a sovereign like the
kaiser, who comes accompanied by a
perfect army of household officials
and servants. For instance, in the
late reign the cost of entertaining
the kaiser at Windsor in 1906, was
estimated at $4,000, while the cost
of entertaining NJ. Loubet, the
French president, three years later,
was estimated at $4,000.
In the late reign the expense Of
one annual entertainment (the Wind
sor garden party), which is reckon
ed as a state function, was estimated
regularly at $1,000, which was but
$3.50 a head; the actual cost was
more like s4>25 head, as Queen
Queen Mary discovered when their
majesties were contemplating giving
the garden party the first year the
court was out of mourning. In con-
sequence the garden party was not
given and never has been in the
present reign.
There are the courts, the state
balls, the big state dinner parties
and the official entertainments at
Windsor in the autumn. One way
and another, cut the matter as finely
as they can, the king and queen can
not do the entertaining that is ex-
pected of their majesties at cost
much under 100000 per annum,
which is 100000 more than they
get for doing it.
Her majesty's suggestion is that
the treasury should treble the grant
made in respect of the money for
state entertainments, whoch would
mean raising it to 100000 per an
mum instead of 100000, but this
the treasury is not likely to do.
The treasury. however, has offered
to double the allowance made for
state entertainments, and If the king
cannot get any further concession he
will, of course, accept this offer and
nv roducinp aS far as possible the