LONDON, Oct. 23 (UPI) -- Queen Elizabeth II of Britain could get a raise under a Conservative plan to tie her payment to revenues from the Crown Estate, experts say.
Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne introduced the proposal in his Spending Review this week. In 2013 the Civil List and other royal grants would be replaced by a lump sum equal to 15 percent of the Crown Estate income, the Daily Mail reported.
This year, the queen got 30 million pounds (about $45 million) from the government. If she had received 15 percent of the Crown Estate, her income would have been 34 million pounds in 2009 and 31 million in 2010.
The Crown Estate, worth about $10 billion, includes London property, Ascot Racecourse, the ruined Tintern Abbey in Wales, remote cattle farms in Scotland and all coastal waters, among other things. All estate income goes to the Treasury under an agreement with King George III in the 18th century.
"The Crown Estate is a huge portfolio, and its value will go up and up. Linking Royal Household funding to profits is ultimately like handing over a blank check," said Graham Smith, a spokesman for Republic, an anti-monarchy group.
