Queen and royals to get £76.1m handout

Figures show they received £42.8m in 2016-17 from the ‘Sovereign Grant’

British royal aides said yesterday that Queen Elizabeth and her family provide excellent value for money as accounts showed the amount of taxpayer funds they will get this year will almost double to cover essential repairs to Buckingham Palace.

Official figures show the royals received £42.8 million ($54.5 million, Dh200 million) in 2016-17 from the “Sovereign Grant”, the government handout that covers the running costs of the queen’s household and travel expenses.

That figure is set to rise to £76.1 million after the government agreed an increase to pay for a £369-million, 10year refurbishment of Buckingham Palace, whose ageing electrical wiring, water pipes and heating system are in urgent need of repair.

Alan Reid, the queen’s treasurer known as Keeper of the Privy Purse, said the cost of the monarchy to every Briton last year amounted to 65 pence — the cost of a firstclass postage stamp. When you consider that against what the queen does and represents for this country, I believe it represents excellent value for money,” Reid told reporters.

The royal family carried out more than 3,000 official engagements last year, with the 91-year-old queen attending 162 and her husband Prince Philip performing 196, Reid said. Philip, 96, who needed hospital treatment for an infection last week, announced in May he would retire from public life later this year.

Opinion polls show the 91-year-old queen remains hugely popular with Britons and at least two-thirds indicate they want the monarchy.