The arts suffer while the monarchy's budget increases

In a parliament that has seen the budget of the Arts Council slashed by 30%, and the entire budget of the DCMS cut by 24%, the finances of the Monarchy are being shored up with the new Sovereign Grant.

The grant will, for the first time since 1760, give the monarch a 15% share of the net revenue from the Crown Estate. This is a major change, and will be a 3.2% real-terms rise in comparison to the grant-in-aids currently being dished out. The Sovereign Grant also comes at a time when the revenue of the Crown Estate is expected to massively increase - the Crown Estate income from renewables grew by 44% in 2009-10 and is expected to continue increasing. In addition to this, Prince Philip will continue to receive his annuity of £359,000 p.a. This does not include the subsidy the monarchy receives from the MoD and the police (even the total amount of security funding is kept secret because of "security" reasons).

How, when culture and art budgets have been recently been decimated, can this be justified?

George Osborne states: "We are trying to establish arrangements that are not to do with the current personality of the monarch, but that endure beyond that and allow the royal household to plan for the future with certainty."

In other words, an unassailable and indeed growing fund for unpopular future monarchs, such as Charles.

Further reading:

http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/leg_sovereign_grant_main_provisions.htm