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More than 5000 entries on the history, culture and life of Britain (published in 1993 by Macmillan, now out of print)
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Civil List
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The annual payment by parliament to meet the expenses of the royal household. In 1760 *George III surrendered the hereditary income from royal property (now known as the Crown Estate) in return for the civil list, and this arrangement is renewed at the start of each reign.
Two royal possessions, the duchies of Lancaster and Cornwall, were excluded from the Crown Estate. The income of the duchy of Lancaster provides the privy purse, used by the monarch for semi-official purposes; and that of the duchy of Cornwall meets the expenses of the prince of Wales (also duke of Cornwall), who receives no funds from the civil list.
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The queen's personal wealth (a subject of constant speculation in the press, though the figure is inflated to unreal levels by the inclusion of the value of palaces and paintings) is applied to her private expenses. It became a matter of some controversy in the 1990s that she was the only person in the realm to be exempted from tax (a concession granted to her father and continued in the present reign). The matter was resolved in 1992, when the prime minister announced her agreement that her income and capital gains should be taxed.
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