Capital Economy, Business and Finance
The UK’s royal family has one new temporary headache and another that could stick around. The first is Omid Scobie’s scabrous book on the flaws and failings of all the royals except Harry and Meghan. The second is the Guardian’s scoop on millions of pounds left to the crown by citizens dying intestate – money which was abruptly redirected on Friday towards ethical investments to avoid suspicions that the family might be profiting from other people’s estates by investing them in fossil fuels and tobacco. The strangeness of the underlying fact that this money is going to the crown rather than the state in the first place hasn’t gone unnoticed. Andy Burnham, mayor of Greater Manchester, calls it bizarre and feudal. Isn’t it also manifestly unjust? Two charities linked to the king have used “bona vacantia” (Ruritanian for money left by others) to build endowments worth at least £40 million which – at least until Friday – imposed no constraints on how it was invested. It seems the king has also used the money to restore properties including a petrol station which he’s then rented out at a profit through the duchies of Lancaster and Cornwall. PR idea for his majesty: go and work at the petrol station.
