THE Queen has received tens of thousands of pounds in taxpayer subsidies to support her Scottish estate at Balmoral, newly published figures reveal.
Information published yesterday by the Scottish Government, following a freedom of information request, showed that the monarch’s property in Aberdeenshire was given more than £34,614 in grants between 2018 and 2020.
During the three-year period it received £17,029 under the forestry grant scheme, £8183 under the less favoured area support scheme and £9400 under the Scottish suckler beef support scheme.
Responding to the freedom of information request which had sought details of grants to Balmoral since 2020, the Scottish Government also pointed out that Balmoral was in receipt of subsidy scheme from 2005 to 2020 managed by an agency in England. It did not give details of how much the estate benefited.
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It said: “Please also be aware that Balmoral Estates also claimed under the single farm payment scheme in 2005 to 2014, and the basic payment scheme in 2015 to 2020, as part of a cross-border business which had land in different parts of the UK. However, the Rural Payments Agency (RPA) in England were the paying agency, and were responsible for assessing and paying the UK claim.”
Earlier this year, The National revealed that the Queen was successful in appealing against the rateable value of three shooting estates in Scotland, including Balmoral in a move which saved her thousands of pounds a year. The move meant the new rateable value (RV) for deer stalking at Balmoral is lower than that of many pubs, shops and restaurants in the area.
Alba MP Kenny MacAskill (above), whose party will this weekend debate a motion on axing the monarchy in an independent Scotland, said: “People are entitled to question why one of the richest women in the world is receiving or needs to apply for £34,000 of taxpayers support when hard-pressed families are seeing cuts to Universal Credit and working tax credits.”
The 50,000-acre Balmoral estate has been the Scottish holiday home of the royal family since the estate was purchased for Queen Victoria by Prince Albert in 1852.
They traditionally visit every August, and the Queen has been depicted taking part in deer stalking on the land in the global hit television drama series, The Crown, which also featured the Prince and Princess of Wales on holiday on the estate.
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Earlier this week Prince Andrew was photographed at the wheel of a Range Rover arriving at the estate to join the Queen for her annual break.
This is his second visit this summer, following a stay last month after the announcement that Virginia Giuffre had filed a civil suit claiming that she was sexually abused by the duke and was seeking damages.
It was suggested that he had headed north amid the continuing battle to obtain his response to the legal action, but last night it was reported that Giuffre’s lawyers had served the legal papers on August 27, according to a document filed in a New York court.
Prince Andrew has always vehemently denied the allegations made against him by Giuffre.
The saga surrounding the prince is one of a series of controversies to hit the royal family, including moves to make Prince William an advocate for the Union.
And in an interview in March, Meghan Markle said that while she was pregnant there “were several conversations” within the royal family about how dark the couple’s baby might be.
“In those months when I was pregnant [there were] concerns and conversations about how dark his skin might be when he was born,” she said.
Meghan also said she spoke about how lonely she felt after joining the royal family and the loss of her freedom. She said her mental health got so bad that she “didn’t want to be alive any more”.
Asked about the subsidies, a Balmoral spokeswoman said: “Like many farms across the UK, Balmoral’s farming operation receives an annual subsidy to support the management of the farm, which is home to native Highland cattle. In addition, the estate receives a grant to support ongoing forestry management, including the establishment of new areas of woodland.”
The Scottish Government was approached for comment.
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