Even the wealthy monarchs worldwide are facing financial difficulties because of the ongoing pandemic crisis, as the income of Queen Elizabeth II has also been on a decline.
Apparently, with the restrictions surrounding COVID-19 and social distancing norms, the funds coming from tourists visiting the royal family’s various properties are expected to be significantly lower than usual.
And the latest estimates show that the losses would be around $25 million in the following years.
According to Sir Michael Stevens, Keeper of the Privy Purse, who made this statement during a recent meeting at Buckingham Palace: “If we look at our core Sovereign Grant and the income that we generate to supplement the Sovereign Grant, both of which support the official duties of The Queen, we are expecting a significant reduction in income from the Royal Collection Trust due to the impact Covid-19 has had on their visitor numbers. This forms the bulk of a projected shortfall in income, which we estimate will be around £5 million ($6.5 m) per year for the next three years.”
The lower-income would most likely result in some changes such as no new hiring of employees, a limited number of exhibitions for the royal staff to limit the expenses as much as possible.
A palace insider recently claimed that “we are instructing our teams to look at ways they can be more efficient in supporting the royal family in delivering their programs.”
Royal officials explained that there will be a reduction in some activities, like tours, in order to “help to offset some of the shortfalls. We are instructing our teams to look at ways they can be more efficient in supporting the royal family in delivering their programs.”
Meanwhile, Sir Michael Stevens also explained that despite the financial troubles, Queen Elizabeth was still a “highly active as Head of State and Head of Nation”, as she and the rest of the royals have attended more than 3,000 events over the course of the past year.
The news comes as Graham Smith, the CEO of Republic, revealed that the Queen should give up her titles and stop wasting British taxpayers’ money.
Smith said: “My view is that all the royals should renounce their titles. I think that the writing is on the wall. Why don’t they do themselves a favor and say we are not going to pursue this any further? Have the monarchy until the Queen passes away, and then let’s move on and do something different.”
Experts say it might take a while before things get back to normal.
