Queen Gets $7.5M Raise

'Sovereign grant' set at $54.5M
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Apr 3, 2013 10:32 AM CDT
Queen Gets $7.5M Raise
Britain's Queen Elizabeth II smiles as she visits Baker Street underground station in London, Wednesday, March 20, 2013.   (AP Photo/Matt Dunham)

Must be nice to be Queen Elizabeth: Taxpayers just gave her a $7.5 million raise. As the AP explains, taxpayer funds cover her official duties and travel, the running of her household, and the maintenance of the royal palaces, and the "sovereign grant" has been set at more than $54.5 million for the 2013-2014 financial year. Last year's $47 million was already an inflated amount, as it included more than $1.5 million to cover the cost of the queen's Diamond Jubilee, the Guardian reports.

The sovereign grant, which came into effect Monday, replaces centuries-old royal funding systems and gives the queen 15% of the Crown Estate's profits from two years prior. So this year's figure is tied to the 2011-2012 profits, which totaled more than $363 million. (More Queen Elizabeth stories.)

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