[user104658]

Originally Posted by bitontheslide

the majority will come from the queens stash which arguably came from the people in days gone by, but it won't have come from the current public purse

Pretty much this, it won't come from current public funds and I think people tend to underestimate the PERSONAL wealth of the Monarchy (especially the current monarch)... It's double figures billions. HIGH double figures. The Queen herself is "officially" worth over 500 million, £5 billion if you include "Royal Treasures" (she technically owns them as assets - but they could never be sold, leveraged or liquidated so that really means nothing... They just exist... I suppose that's what makes something "priceless").

Anyway her true personal wealth is realistically over £1 billion at this point anyway, she owns land all over the place that would likely sell for much more than its listed value currently.

And that's just the Queen.

For the family as a whole, £12m is nowt, from their own back pocket and nothing to do with public funds.

Although as you say... If you take the actual entire history of the Monarchy into account then yes of course it's all plunder at the end of the day. The British Empire was the largest and most successful the world has ever seen when it existed, and unlike now, up until a couple of hundred years ago the monarch was very much at the top of that pyramid. Spanning the whole globe, pilfering wealth from every corner