Denmark’s Royal Family’s funding increases

NordenBladet -Denmark`s social democratic minority government presented on Monday its proposal for the Danish state budget, where an increase in the salary for the Queen Margrethe was included. The Danish government’s budget proposal for next year shows that Queen Margrethe can count on almost 90 million Danish crowns in appanage. The Danish government will give 89.3 million Danish crowns in salary to the queen. However, 1.3 million of the salary is set aside for Princess Benedikte, the Queen’s younger sister.

This is an increase from the previous year. The money will not only cover expenses for clothing and other personal expenses, but also royal banquets, state visits and the running and maintenance of several castles. However , the Queen’s salary increases have received attention. From 2005 to 2018, the appanage increased by 40 percent.

In general, however, there will be less money for the rest of the royal family. This is because Countess Alexandra, Prince Joachim’s ex-wife, no longer receives an annual benefit of 2.6 million crowns because her youngest son Prince Felix has turned 18 years old.

If you compare the costs of the Danish royal family with other European royal families, they are quite low. This has been a tradition in Denmark for a long time. At the end of the 19th century, the Danish royal family was in fact one of Europe’s poorest royal families.

The appanage to the Queen covers the Court Marshal’s and the Cabinet Secretariat’s costs for staff, operations, administration, properties and grants for the Royal Orders. According to the Civil List Act, the state makes a number of castles and equipment available to the Queen. The expenses for the state-owned castles are paid for by the state and not the royals.

Under the Royal Danish Income Tax Act, the Queen, the Crown Prince and Princess, Prince Joachim, Princess Marie and Princess Benedikte are exempt from paying income tax, and under the Motor Vehicle Registration Act, they are also all exempt from paying registration taxes and green taxes.

The Queen, the Crown Prince and Princess, Prince Joachim, Princess Marie and Princess Benedict are subject to the general rules for payment of inheritance tax and gift tax as well as property taxes.