Royal Household today published its annual financial statement, the Sovereign Grants Report, for the financial year 2021-22.
A Sovereign Grant is money provided to support the Queen's official duties and to maintain authorized royal palaces. It also included a dedicated amount for the ten-year reservation of Buckingham Palace, a major overhaul of essential building services including electrical wiring, pipework, boilers and generators.
The total sovereign grant for 2021-22, including the amount devoted to reservations, amounted to £86.3m (2020-21: £85.9m), equivalent to £1.29 per capita in the UK.
£86.3 million is made up of a main grant of £51.8 million which funds official travel, maintenance of the property and operating costs of the Queen's House and an additional dedicated amount for the reservation of £34.5 million. The main grant is equivalent to 77p per capita in the UK.
Earned income to supplement the Sovereign Grant was £9.9m, a 5% increase from £9.4m (2020-21). This figure is less than 50% of pre-pandemic levels and largely reflects the impact of COVID-19 on the Royal Collection Trust's ability to welcome visitors to authorized royal palaces.
Official expenditures exceeded Sovereign Grants and earned supplementary income, with net expenditures of £102.4 million, an increase of 17% over the previous year. This was driven by spending a total of £54.6m on the Buckingham Palace reservation - an increase of 41%.
The Sovereign Grant Reserve has been reduced by £14.6m (2020-21 was pulled down by £2.3m) to pay for important works related to the conservation of Buckingham Palace.
Other details in the 2021-22 report include:
While many engagements continued to be held due to the COVID-19 restrictions, The Queen and members of the Royal Family held nearly 2,300 official engagements in the United Kingdom and abroad, with international travel resuming at pre-pandemic levels.
The reservation program at Buckingham Palace continued at a pace, which played a central role in the Queen's Platinum Jubilee celebrations. Significant work has been completed in the West Wing including the Grand Entrance, Grand Staircase, Minister's Staircase, Marble Hall and Picture Gallery. The maintenance work of property in these places has also been completed.
The completion of the picture gallery ceiling meant that the scaffolding at the grand entrance has been removed.
The Palace Wide Infrastructure program has begun simultaneously within each wing of the basement.
Reflecting on the year 2021-22, Sir Michael Stevens, keeper of the Privy Purse, said:
“The year covered in the report marks some return to normality in many ways with physical engagements for the royal family, travel and inward visits by heads of state. However, such events are welcome to return, in April to St. No review of the year can be complete without reflecting on the tragic passing of The Prince Philip, The Duke of Edinburgh and the Funeral that took place at George Chapel. His service and contribution to the nation was aptly reflected and his legacy twelve months later It is still as strong today.
“The year was not without operational and financial challenges. The impact of Covid meant that major events such as the Maundy, the Garter and the Garden Party were absent from the calendar. The pandemic also meant we had another year in which access to the Royal Palace was restricted to the Royal Collection Trust, which once again affected our ability to help self-finance our work on behalf of the nation. While the reserving program continued to be carefully managed to match projected funding, work grew significantly against a tight deadline to put Buckingham Palace at the center of Platinum Jubilee celebrations. We are happy to work against our plans on all fronts.
“Looking forward, with sovereign grants likely to be flat over the next few years, inflationary pressures on operating costs and our ability to grow supplemental income in the short term are likely to limit, we will continue to work against our plans and management will do. These are influenced by our own efforts and competencies."