How much will the coronation of Charles III cost? And how much will it earn for the British economy? – Corriere.it

«Over half a billion poundsto be precise 665 million is what the coronation of King Charles III on May 6 will bring to the economy of Great Britain”, anticipates the Courier City of London Brand Finance CEO David Haigh working on major new Windsor Finance Report to be unveiled in London ahead of coronation. “In normal years the Windsors’ contribution to the monarchy is just over £100m a year, but due to the coronation ceremonies with a big UK promotional spot, this year it will be much more and… this despite the May 8 Bank holiday decided by the Government to create the long coronation weekend, it will weigh 850 million pounds less at the end of the year: in 2022 with two major real events it subtracted 1.7 billion, the equivalent of two days of GDP to be subtracted».

The boost to the economy will be the combined effect of a fly from 100 million pounds of extra tourismbeyond £100m in sales related to festivities and events around the coronation. It’s still 90 million merchandiseg around the new King and especially £375m of media coverage. But we need to look at the costs and benefits as a whole: «We have recalculated the cost of the Royals and the figure is now around 370 million pounds, compared with £250m in the previous survey in 2012: in 2022/23 royalties cost £366m, the year before £352m. In short, the monarchy now costs more. A calculation which includes the weight of the Sovereign Grant (which replaced the Civil list), the income from the Duchies of Lancaster and Cornwall and the security costs», explains Haigh. “But then there are the incremental costs.”

That is, how much does the monarchy cost, exactly? “This year, coronation year it also costs the £850m of GDP missing for the bank holiday, plus the £100m to organize the event at Westminster Abbey and the entire Coronation weekend, as well as the budget of the Golden Orb Committee which has developed the celebrations: a total of 950 million pounds,” Haigh clarifies.

But if you compare the higher costs with the Royal benefits, there is a delta of over 200 million pounds: «King Charles will have to work hard to streamline the Firm and recover that boost to the economy that the monarchy has always had in this country» Haigh notes. «The case of Prince Andrew overwhelmed by the Epstein / Giuffre case and the case of the Dukes of Sussex weigh a lot, which also undermined the economic boost value of the monarchy, especially as an aid to the signing of important contracts. Spending a Royal on commercial deals for large British groups has always been an asset, and for a time Prince Andrew was engaged as a UK business ambassador.

There is one sector in which the allure of the monarchy continues to have a very positive effect, luxury and fashion products with the so-called Royal Warrants. That is the title of supplier of the Crown that several British brands have successfully spent for generations. Working in tandem with Walpole, the London association that brings together the main high-end British brandsBrand Finance has in fact developed how to boast of title of Supplier of the Royal House is worth a good 10% today for brands more than business and allows you to raise prices by 15%.

“From cars to fashion, passing through drinks, there is a world of brands holding a Royal warrant that continue to benefit every year from their proximity to the Windsors – explains Haigh -. And those who benefiting most from the allure of the Crown are beverage brands, those less the cars: perhaps because in this case the choice is based more on the effective evaluation of the performances than on an emotional effect». Not to mention that the economic flywheel now ensured by the Crown to around 600 Royal Supplier brands could multiply if – as Haigh anticipates – the Royal Household were to decide to extend the possibility of choosing Suppliers to Queen Camilla and Princess of Wales Kate as well of trust.

“There is currently one discussion underway within the royal family to double the number of Windsors they recognize as Official Suppliers – in fact Haigh reveals -: today I am only the King and the prince of Wales, William. There is a temptation to open also to Camilla and Kate. And Princess Kate would certainly have a great economic impact on the fashion brands that she were to choose as suppliers. For Camilla, on the other hand, I imagine brands linked to the world of horse riding, of country life)».

The Report calculates in parallel the value of the tangible assets, of wealth, of the Windsors which will rise to 34 billion pounds in 2023up from £21bn in 2012. The fact is, according to the Brand Finance survey that the Courier can anticipate, that «the administrators of the Duchies of Lancaster and Cornwall which traditionally report to the Prince of Wales, therefore to Charles now King, were chosen with great prudence: talented managers identified by the then prince – continues Haigh -. Then in the calculation of this new research on royal finances we decided to also include the value of the occupied royal palaces». That means? “Something like more than 3.5 billion pounds overall considering that Buckingham Palace alone is worth 1.2 billion pounds and Windsor around 850 million. And they are buildings that all together are worth 84 million in rental value. This explains the leap from 21 to 34 billion».

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