It has been revealed that Scotland want to keep the money the Crown Estate made in its country – instead of handing it to the Treasury to be passed along to The Queen.
Nicola Sturgeon’s SNP government has insisted that £2.1million in revenue which traditionally finances the Head of State – the Monarch – stays in Scotland, instead of forming part of the Sovereign Support Grant.
The Daily Mail reports that when it was pointed out that this meant Scotland would effectively no longer pay for the The Queen, the aide did not disagree.
Its is now the job of George Osborne, David Cameron to find a way to bridge this gap. Effectively, the left-wing government are making it £2 million harder for the people of England, Wales and Northern Ireland by keeping the cash.
The Palace admitted it was not aware of any other suggestions the Scottish government had proposed to support the Royal Family in any way.
The Smith Commission, looking into the devolution of powers from Westminster, suggested this step, which will be effective from 1st April 2016 – and it’s no April Fools.
Sir Alan Reid, Keeper of the Privy Purse (in control of the Palace’s finances) confirmed for the first time that the transfer of the Scottish Crown Estate assets was an issue for both Buckingham Palace and the Government, despite repeated official denials.
He said: “The transfer of the Scottish assets of the crown estate to the Scottish government does confuse the issue of renegotiating the percentage in due course, because the total assets under the crown estate management will fall, and therefore 15% will be less than it would be if the transfer of the Scottish assets had taken place.”
Tory MP Jacob Rees-Mogg said: ‘This highlights the fact that the SNP are a closet republican party.”
The transfer of the Crown Estate land in Scotland into the hands of the Scottish government will be debated in Parliament next week, forming part of the devolution settlement, following the ‘No’ vote at the Scottish referendum last year.
But this controversial step by the Scots could trigger Tory MPs to force a vote on it and rebel on the issue, forcing the land, and money to be kept at the status quo.
A Buckingham Palace spokesman said it was wrong to infer that Scotland would no longer contribute to The Queen by taking this course of action, calling it an ‘entirely hypothetical’.
Former First Minister, Alex Salmond, was known to be affectionate towards the Royals, and stated an independent Scotland following the referendum would retain The Queen as Head of State.
The Queen holidays at Balmoral each summer, also spending a short period at Holyroodhouse, Edinburgh, her official residence in Scotland.
Photo: First Minister in Scotland
