The Queen is getting a massive pay rise and Twitter isn't impressed
At 91, the Queen might be well beyond her pension age, but that hasn't stopped her from getting a massive pay rise.
SEE ALSO: Baby survives Grenfell, or not: Facebook’s fake news problem continues apace
A record-breaking performance by the Crown Estate, which owns residential properties, commercial offices, businesses, and land across Britain, means the Queen will get an 8% increase in income from public funds.
The Sovereign Grant, which funds the monarch's household, official travel, and upkeep of palaces, will increase from £76 million ($97 million) in 2017-18 to £82.2 million ($104.9 million) next April.
Not bad, huh? It's a £6 million pay rise.
Now, before the French revolutionary in you starts ranting about royal privilege and taxpayers' money, it has to be reiterated that the Queen's funding is based on the profits of the Crown Estate, whose profits rose by £24 million to reach a new high of £328.8 million.
Sir Alan Reid, whose title is "Keeper of the Privy Purse," defended the Queen, claiming she represents "excellent value for money."
"When you look at these accounts, the bottom line is the Sovereign Grant last year equated to 65p per person, per annum, in the United Kingdom. That's the price of a first class stamp," he said.
Also, Queen's pay rise will take place as refurbishment is taking place at Buckingham Palace, costing £369 million.
However, people on Twitter weren't happy, to say the least, about the new funding, linking it to the Grenfell Tower fire:
Glad we can find more taxpayer money to fix up Buckingham Palace while hundreds of tower blocks are dangerous. Priorities, hey?
— Mic Wright 🗿 (@brokenbottleboy) June 27, 2017
It would appear Austerity is only for poor people
Queen to receive £6m pay increase from public funds - https://t.co/IY8ZGRlTxt— codfather (@codfather) June 27, 2017
The Queen is getting a £6m pay rise LOL beginning to see a theme here with the Conservatives' spending priorities #MagicMoneyTree
— Political Hipster (@escofree) June 27, 2017
So the Queen is getting a payrise to £82mil per tax year - to help pay for refurbishments to Buckingham Palace..... 👍🏼 pic.twitter.com/Uvs6IJqa78
— Barcho 👑 (@LouisMarch) June 27, 2017
Queen gets £82m pay rise to pay for Buckingham Palace works but we need to cut benefits for the poor to save money 🤔https://t.co/gsLXFzSuUV
— Parveen Agnihotri (@Parveen_Comms) June 27, 2017
If the government wants to save money on the Buckingham Palace refurb, there are some very good deals to be had these days on cladding
— Aunt Olive (@HelpfulOlive) June 27, 2017