HC Deb 10 July 1952 vol 503 cc1644-5

Resolutions reported, 1. That there be charged on the Consolidated Fund as from the last demise of the Crown the following annual sums (subject to adjustment in respect of parts of a year):

For the Queen's Civil List: £475,000; For retired allowances: such sums as may be required for the payment of retired allowances granted by Her Majesty or by His late Majesty to or in respect of persons who have been members of the Royal Household; For Civil List pensions: such sums as may be required for the payment in each year of Civil List pensions already granted and Civil List pensions hereafter to be granted, so, however, that the aggregate of the pensions granted in any financial year shall not exceed £5,000 a year; For His Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh: £40,000, in substitution for any sum payable to him under the Princess Elizabeth's and Duke of Edinburgh's Annuities Act, 1948; For the benefit of the children of Her Majesty, other than the Duke of Cornwall for the time being: in respect of each son who attains the age of twenty-one years or marries, £10,000, and in the case of a son who marries a further £15,000; and in respect of each daughter who attains the age of twenty-one years or marries, £6,000, and in case of a daughter who marries a further £9,000; For Her Royal Highness the Princess Margaret: £9,000 in the event of her marriage, in addition to any sum payable to her under section six of the Civil List Act, 1937; In the event of the death during the present reign of the Duke of Cornwall for the time being leaving a widow, for his widow, £30,000; and that provision be made for continuing for a period of six months after the close of the present reign certain payments charged as aforesaid upon the Consolidated Fund which would otherwise then be determined:

Provided that—

  1. (i) as respects any period during which the Duke of Cornwall for the time being is a minor, the sum of £475,000 for the Queen's Civil List shall be subject to a reduction of an amount equal to the net revenues of the Duchy for the year, less—
    1. (a) for each year whilst he is under the age of eighteen years, one ninth of those revenues,
    2. (b) for each of the last three years of his minority, £30,000;
  2. (ii) as respects any period during which the Duchy of Cornwall is vested in Her Majesty, the said sum of £475,000 shall be subject to a reduction of an amount equal to the net revenues of the Duchy for the year.

2. That it is expedient to repeal section five of the Civil List Act, 1937, and to make other amendments in the law relating to the Civil List, the hereditary revenues, the Duchy of Cornwall, and Grants for the Royal Family.

Resolutions agreed to.

Bill ordered to be brought in upon the said Resolutions by the Chairman of Ways and Means, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Prime Minister, Mr. Crookshank, Sir David Maxwell Fyfe, Mr. Stuart and Mr. Boyd-Carpenter.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer (Mr. R. A. Butler)

I beg to acquaint the House that Her Majesty, having been informed of the subject-matter of the Bill, so far as it relates to the Duchy of Cornwall, recommends it to the consideration of the House.