Queen Elizabeth is to receive a 5 per cent pay rise next year, boosting her annual income to more than $62.5 million.
The announcement comes as the British government announced yet more cost-cutting measures, which is expected to cause some backlash.
But while Buckingham Palace admits the timing is “not ideal” it insists the 87-year-old monarch has earned every penny of her new salary.
New rules mean the Queen’s income is now linked to profits of the Crown Estate, a portfolio of farming land, buildings and property, from Ascot racecourse to London’s Regent Street.
The Crown Estate is owned by the reigning monarch, but all profits have gone straight in the government’s coffers since the early 1800s.
After an extensive review of royal finances last year, the government established the Sovereign Grant, which allows the Queen to keep 15 per cent of the Crown Estate’s earnings.
Yesterday, the Crown Estate announced record revenue of $417 million, meaning the Queen’s income will go from $59.6 million to $62.5 million next year.
But while this seems like an exorbitant sum, most of it will be spent on a “massive backlog” of repairs to royal palaces, which the Queen maintains on behalf of the nation.
Buckingham Palace has long complained of not having enough money to complete urgent repairs on many properties. Buckets catching leaks are a common sight at dozens of premises, while wiring has not been replaced in other for more than 60 years.
“We have a massive backlog of property repairs that we need to get cracking on,” Keeper of the Privy Purse Sir Alan Reid said.
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