Coronavirus lockdown could see the Queen lose £18 million

The Queen could lose £18 million amid the coronavirus lockdown, the Lord Chamberlain warned staff in an email. 

With royal palaces closed because of restrictions on movement to stop the spread of the killer virus, the Queen is set to miss out on income from millions of tourists. 

And in an email to staff, Lord Chamberlain Earl Peel, head of the Royal Household, admitted royal income is expected to fall by as much as a third this year.

He also told workers that there will be a pay freeze, as well as a freeze on recruitment. 

Last year, tourism earned the ­royals more than £70million from ticket and souvenir sales. 

The royals earn millions from the Crown Estates, though that income will now fall significantly amid lockdown.

Buckingham Palace brings in around £12 million a year, Windsor Castle £25 million, Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh £5.6 million, the Royal Mews £1.6 million and Clarence House  £132,000.

The Queen is worth £350 million and the Sovereign Grant, paid to the royals annually by the taxpayer to fund official duties, was £82.4million last year.

The email read: ‘The crisis has already tested our resilience, adaptability and preparedness in many ways and at all levels across the organisation. It has also had a significant impact on the activities of the whole Royal Household.

‘Although the UK appears to be over the peak of infections, it remains unclear when measures such as social distancing will come to an end.

‘We must therefore assume it could still be many weeks, if not months, before we are able to return to business as usual.

‘There are undoubtedly very difficult times ahead and we realise many of you will be concerned.’ 

The bulk of the loss in royal income will come from royal palaces remaining closed to tourists over the summer, with refunds for people who have already bought tickets.  

According to the Sun, some staff have been asked to work from home and, though they will not be furloughed, they’ve been told there may be recruitment and pay freezes. 

In his email, the Lord Chamberlain said ‘property spend’ would be reduced — a move that could affect planned £33 million renovations of Buckingham Palace.   

The Royal Household employs around 500 people but is currently operating on a skeleton staff in many areas.

A source said: ‘Many staff are loyal and will do what they do for a pay cut. But the email went down like a lead balloon.’ 

The crisis has also led to aides putting all of the Queen’s engagements up until 2022 under review.

One said they aren’t able to make any plans as they don’t know what will happen in the future with restrictions.

The Queen’s diary has to be planned up to two years in advance, allowing her to juggle visits from foreign heads of state with her own trips, as well as those of other royals.

However, all 26 of her remaining investitures for the year have been cancelled, with medals for 120 recipients expected to now be posted.

Buckingham Palace said: ‘The whole country is very likely to be impacted financially by coronavirus and the Royal Household is no exception.

‘However, the time to address this will be when the full impact of the situation is clearer.’