2 months ago
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King Charles
has not published the annual list of gifts the Royal Family received for the last four years. Anti-monarchy campaign group Republic has hit out at the Royal Family and said if politicians are expected to display higher standards by mandatory disclosure of gifts, the same should be demanded from the royals as well. According to reports, the Buckingham Palace said the list will be published in due course.
The Royal Family, of late, weathered many a storm including King Charles' cancer detection followed by treatment, Princess Kate Middleton's cancer and before that there was the pandemic, the death of the Queen Elizabeth II, the change of reign, coronation etc. The last annual list was published in April 2020.
Are Buckingham Palace Royals supposed to disclose gifts?
Going by law, unlike the MPs, the members of the royal family are not required to declare gifts, donations and hospitality on a public register of interests. But they started publishing an annual list after scrutiny of jewelry given to Camilla by a Saudi royal in 2007.
Graham Smith, chief executive of Republic, said: “If politicians are being lambasted for failing to declare gifts, the same should apply to the royals.
“It is vital that the public knows about any possible conflicts of interest or attempts to curry favour with royals, as they have direct access to the highest levels of government. And we need to know if official gifts are being handed over to the state or surreptitiously kept for personal use.
“Charles and senior royals have access to government papers, can have secretive meetings with ministers and the prime minister and they have leverage to pressure government to do favors for them and their friends. So it’s vital we know what gifts they’re receiving.
What do royals get as gifts?
The April list included a 24 carat gold-plated horse comb from President Borut Pahor of the Republic of Slovenia and three gifts the late Queen Elizabeth II received from Donald Trump during his presidential visit. These were a custom hand-tooled leather chest made by artisans in Washington DC with 24k gold detail, a hand-crafted White House wooden jewelry box made using wood from a fallen Magnolia tree located on the White House Grounds and a Tiffany & Co. red poppy brooch.
