century. The coronation of a new sovereign is a ceremony of great pageantry
and celebration that has remained essentially the same for over a thousand
years. As well as explaining accession, succession and coronation, this
section looks at the titles which have been held by different members of
the Royal Family throughout history.
THE ROYAL HOUSEHOLD
Divided into five departments, the Royal Household assists The Queen in
carrying out her official duties. Members of the Royal Household carry out
the work and roles which were performed by courtiers historically. There
are 645 full-time employees, employed across a wide range of professions.
People employed within the Royal Household are recruited from the general
workforce on merit, in terms of qualifications, experience and aptitude.
Details of the latest vacancies are listed in the Recruitment pages of this
section.
The Royal Household includes The Queen's Household, plus the Households
of other members of the Royal Family who undertake public engagements. The
latter comprise members of their private offices and other people who
assist with their public duties.
ROYAL HOUSEHOLD DEPARTMENTS
Royal Household's functions are divided across five departments, under
the overall authority of the Lord Chamberlain, the senior member of The
Queen's Household. These departments developed over centuries and
originated in the functions of the Royal Court. As a result, the
departments and many job titles have ancient names - the jobs themselves,
however, are thoroughly modern!
Most of the departments are based in Buckingham Palace, although there
are also offices in St. James's Palace, Windsor Castle and the Royal Mews.
Members of the Royal Household also often travel with The Queen on overseas
visits and during The Queen's stays at Balmoral Castle and Sandringham,
since The Queen's work continues even when she is away from London.
In addition to the full-time members of the Royal Household, there are
other part-time members of The Queen's Household. These include the Great
Officers of State who take part in important Royal ceremonies, as well as
Ladies-in-waiting, who are appointed personally by The Queen and female
members of the Royal Family.
RECRUITMENT
People are employed within the Royal Household from a wide range of
sectors and professions, including catering, housekeeping, accountancy,
secretarial and administrative fields, public relations, human resources
management, art curatorship and strategic planning disciplines. The special
nature of the Royal Household means that unique career opportunities are
available.
Employment in the Royal Household offers excellent career opportunities
for those who wish to take a new direction. Positions in the Royal
Household receive good remuneration and benefits. For domestic positions,
there are often enhanced by accommodation. The Royal Household is also
committed to training and development, including NVQ and vocational
training, general management and skills-based training across a range of
disciplines - from carriage driving to an in-house diploma for footmen
which is widely recognised in its specialised field as a valued vocational
qualification.
Jobs at Buckingham Palace and in other Royal residences are usually
advertised in national, regional or specialist media in the usual way.
section and applications can be made by downloading the standard
application form. All positions are also advertised internally to encourage
career development and to offer opportunities for promotion to existing
employees.
A number of vacancies occur on a regular basis, including positions as
housemaids, footmen and secretaries. In addition, nearly 200 Wardens are
employed each year for Buckingham Palace's Summer Opening programme.
Speculative enquiries are welcome for these posts throughout the year.
Recruitment is in all cases on merit, in terms of qualifications,
experience and aptitude. The Royal Household is committed to Equal
Opportunities.
ANNIVERSARIES
Since 1917, the Sovereign has sent congratulatory messages to those
celebrating their 100th and 105th birthday and every year thereafter, and
to those celebrating their Diamond Wedding (60th), 65th, 70th wedding
anniversaries and every year thereafter. For many people, receiving a
message from The Queen on these anniversaries is a very special moment.
For data privacy reasons, there is no automatic alert from government
records for wedding anniversaries. The Department for Work and Pensions
informs the Anniversaries Office of birthdays for recipients of UK State
pensions. However, to ensure that a message is sent for birthdays and
wedding anniversaries alike, an application needs to be made by a relative
or friend in advance of the special day.
The Queen's congratulatory messages consist of a card containing a
personalised message with a facsimile signature. The card comes in a
special envelope, which is delivered through the normal postal channels.
More information about applying for a message and interesting facts about
the tradition are contained in this section.
ROYAL FINANCES
This section provides the latest information on Head of State
expenditure, together with information about Royal financial arrangements.
It includes information about the four sources of funding of The Queen
(or officials of the Royal Household acting on her behalf). The Civil List
meets official expenditure relating to The Queen's duties as Head of State
and Head of the Commonwealth. Grants-in-Aid from Parliament provide upkeep
of the Royal Palaces and for Royal travel. The Privy Purse is traditional
income for the Sovereign's public and private use. Her Majesty's personal
income meets entirely private expenditure.
The Queen pays tax on her personal income and capital gains. The Civil
List and the Grants-in-Aid are not taxed because they cover official
expenditure. The Privy Purse is fully taxable, subject to a deduction for
official expenditure.
These pages also contain information about the financial arrangements of
other members of the Royal Family, together with information on the Royal
Philatelic Collection.
HEAD OF STATE EXPENDITURE 2000-01
Head of State expenditure is the official expenditure relating to The
Queen's duties as Head of State and Head of the Commonwealth. Head of State
expenditure is met from public funds in exchange for the surrender by The
Queen of the revenue from the Crown Estate.
Head of State expenditure for 2001-02, at Ј35.3 million, is 1.0% higher
than in the previous year (a decrease of 1.3% in real terms). The Ј350,000
increase is mainly attributable to fire precautions work at the Palace of
Holyroodhouse, offset by the fact that costs transferred from other funding
sources to the Civil List with effect from 1st April 2001 are only included
in 2001 Civil List expenditure for nine months. They will be included for a
full year in 2002 and subsequently. Costs have been transferred to the
Civil List from other funding sources in order to utilise the Civil List
reserve brought forward at 1st January 2001. Head of State expenditure has
reduced from Ј84.6 million (expressed in current pounds) in 1991-92, a
reduction of 58%.
SOURCES OF FUNDING
The four sources of funding of The Queen, or officials of the Royal
Household acting on Her Majesty's behalf, are: the Civil List, the Grants-
in-Aid for upkeep of Royal Palaces and for Royal travel, the Privy Purse
and The Queen's personal wealth and income.
FINANCIAL ARRANGEMENTS OF THE PRINCE OF WALES
The Prince of Wales does not receive any money from the State. Instead,
he receives the annual net surplus of the Duchy of Cornwall and uses it to
meet the costs of all aspects of his public and private commitments, and
those of Prince William and Prince Harry.
The Duchy's name is derived from the Earldom of Cornwall, which Edward
III elevated to a duchy in 1337. The Duchy's founding charter included the
gift of estates spread throughout England. It also stated that the Duchy
should be in the stewardship of the Heir Apparent, to provide the Heir with
an income independent of the Sovereign or the State.
After 660 years, the Duchy's land holdings have become more diversified,
but the Duchy is still predominantly an agricultural estate. Today, it
consists of around 57,000 hectares, mostly in the South of England. It is
run on a commercial basis, as prescribed by the parliamentary legislation
which governs its activities.
Prince Charles became the 24th Duke of Cornwall on The Queen's accession
in 1952. He is in effect a trustee, and is not entitled to the proceeds of
disposals of assets. The Prince must pass on the estate intact, so that it
continues to provide an income from its assets for future Dukes of
Cornwall.
The Duchy's net surplus for the year to 31 March 2002 was Ј7,827,000. As
a Crown body, the Duchy is tax exempt, but The Prince of Wales voluntarily
pays income tax (currently at 40%) on his taxable income from it.
FINANCES OF THE OTHER MEMBERS OF THE ROYAL FAMILY
Under the Civil List Acts, The Duke of Edinburgh receives an annual
parliamentary allowance to enable him to carry out public duties. Since
1993, The Queen has repaid to the Treasury the annual parliamentary
allowances received by other members of the Royal family.
The annual amounts payable to members of the Royal family (which are set
every ten years) were reset at their 1990 levels for the next ten years,
until December 2010. Apart from an increase of Ј45,000 on the occasion of
The Earl of Wessex's marriage, these amounts remain as follows:
Parliamentary annuity (not repaid by The Queen)
|HRH The Duke of Edinburgh | Ј359,000 |
Parliamentary annuities (repaid by The Queen)
|HRH The Duke of York |Ј249,000 |
|HRH The Earl of Wessex |Ј141,000 |
|HRH The Princess Royal |Ј228,000 |
|HRH Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester |Ј87,000 |
|TRH The Duke and Duchess of Gloucester | |
|TRH The Duke and Duchess of Kent HRH Princess Alexandra, Hon.|*Ј636,000 |
|Lady Ogilvy | |
* Of the Ј636,000, Ј175,000 is provided by The Queen to The Duke and
Duchess of Gloucester, Ј236,000 to The Duke and Duchess of Kent and
Ј225,000 to Princess Alexandra.
As with the Civil List itself, most of these sums are spent on staff who
support public engagements and correspondence.
TAXATION
The Queen has always been subject to Value Added Tax and other indirect
taxes and she has paid local rates (Council Tax) on a voluntary basis. In
1992, however, The Queen offered to pay income tax and capital gains tax on
a voluntary basis. As from 1993, her personal income has been taxable as
for any taxpayer and the Privy Purse is fully taxable, subject to a
deduction for official expenditure. The Civil List and the Grants-in-Aid
are not remuneration for The Queen and are thus disregarded for tax.
Although The Queen's estate will be subject to Inheritance Tax, bequests
from Sovereign to Sovereign are exempt. This is because constitutional
impartiality requires an appropriate degree of financial independence for
the Sovereign and because the Sovereign is unable to generate significant
new wealth through earnings or business activities. Also, the Sovereign
cannot retire and so cannot mitigate Inheritance Tax by passing on assets
at an early stage to his or her successor.
As a Crown body, the Duchy of Cornwall is tax exempt, but since 1969 The
Prince of Wales has made voluntary contributions to the Exchequer. As from
1993, The Prince's income from the Duchy has been fully subject to tax on a
voluntary basis. He has always paid tax, including income tax, in all other
respects.
ROYAL ASSETS
The Queen does not 'own' the Royal Palaces, art treasures from the Royal
Collection, jewellery heirlooms and the Crown Jewels, all of which are held
by Her Majesty as Sovereign and not as an individual. They must be passed
on to The Queen's successor in due course. The Queen and some members of
the Royal Family past and present have made private collections - such as
the stamp collection begun by George V. This is separate to the Royal
Collection, although exhibitions and loans of stamps are sometimes made.
SYMBOLS
Many of the most familiar objects and events in national life incorporate
Royal symbols or represent the Monarchy in some way. Flags, coats of arms,
the crowns and treasures used at coronations and some ceremonies, stamps,
coins and the singing of the national anthem have strong associations with
the Monarchy and play a significant part in our daily existence. Other
objects - such as the Great Seal of the Realm - may be less familiar to the
general public but still have a powerful symbolic role.
NATIONAL ANTHEM
'God Save The King' was a patriotic song first publicly performed in
London in 1745, which came to be referred to as the National Anthem from
the beginning of the nineteenth century. The words and tune are anonymous,
and may date back to the seventeenth century.
In September 1745 the 'Young Pretender' to the British Throne, Prince
Charles Edward Stuart, defeated the army of King George II at Prestonpans,
near Edinburgh. In a fit of patriotic fervour after news of Prestonpans had
reached London, the leader of the band at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane,
arranged 'God Save The King' for performance after a play. It was a
tremendous success and was repeated nightly thereafter. This practice soon
spread to other theatres, and the custom of greeting the Monarch with the
song as he or she entered a place of public entertainment was thus
established.
There is no authorised version of the National Anthem as the words are a
matter of tradition. Additional verses have been added down the years, but
these are rarely used. The words used are those sung in 1745, substituting
'Queen' for 'King' where appropriate. On official occasions, only the first
verse is usually sung, as follows:
God save our gracious Queen!
Long live our noble Queen!
God save the Queen!
Send her victorious,
Happy and glorious,
Long to reign over us,
God save the Queen.
An additional verse is occasionally sung:
Thy choicest gifts in store
On her be pleased to pour,
Long may she reign.
May she defend our laws,
And ever give us cause,
To sing with heart and voice,
The British tune has been used in other countries - as European visitors
to Britain in the eighteenth century noticed the advantage of a country
possessing such a recognised musical symbol - including Germany, Russia,
Switzerland and America (where use of the tune continued after
independence). Some 140 composers, including Beethoven, Haydn and Brahms,
have used the tune in their compositions.
ROYAL WARRANTS
Royal Warrants are granted to people or companies who have regularly
supplied goods or services for a minimum of five consecutive years to The
Queen, The Duke of Edinburgh, Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother or The
Prince of Wales. They are advised by the Lord Chamberlain who is head of
the Royal Household and chairman of the Royal Household Tradesmen's
Warrants Committee. Each of these four members of the Royal family can
grant only one warrant to any individual business. However, a business may
hold warrants from more than one member of the Royal family and a handful
of companies holds all four.
The warrants are a mark of recognition that tradesmen are regular
suppliers of goods and services to the Royal households. Strict regulations
govern the warrant, which allows the grantee or his company to use the
legend 'By Appointment' and display the Royal Arms on his products, such as
stationery, advertisements and other printed material, in his or her
premises and on delivery vehicles.
A Royal Warrant is initially granted for five years, after which time it
comes up for review by the Royal Household Tradesmen's Warrants Committee.
Warrants may not be renewed if the quality or supply for the product or
service is insufficient, as far as the relevant Royal Household is
concerned. A Warrant may, however, be cancelled at any time and is
automatically reviewed if the grantee dies or leaves the business, or if
the firm goes bankrupt or is sold. There are rules to ensure that high
standards are maintained.
Since the Middle Ages, tradesmen who have acted as suppliers of goods and
services to the Sovereign have received formal recognition. In the
beginning, this patronage took the form of royal charters given
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