The crown estate has just published its accounts for the last year, revealing record profits. This news was accompanied by indignant headlines about a massive pay rise for the royal family.
But behind these headlines is a much more complex picture. And as with so many aspects of the British monarchy, some very arcane laws and institutions are at work.
Despite its name, the crown estate is not under the direct control of either the palace or the British government. It is a statutory corporation with an independent commercial mandate. A board of crown estate commissioners manage the estate’s holdings – an increasingly lucrative portfolio of land and property as well as most of the UK’s seabed stretching 12 nautical miles from the mainland. This structure was established by the Crown Estate Act 1961.
