LETTER:The royal 'gift' had strings

JENNIFER Miller is mistaken (Letters, 14 January), both in fact and her historical assertions. George III gave up the revenues from the Crown Estates in 1760 not out of any philanthropic zeal, but to gain a guaranteed income, in perpetuity, and to be absolved from the costs of maintaining the offices of state and the civil service, which at that time were the responsibility of the Crown. The true cost of the monarchy is accepted to be in excess of pounds 150m not counting the perks and privileges that the taxpayer provides.

As to descent from the Saxon Kings I would think that any English man or woman would have a better claim than the House of Windsor.

Mark Unsworth

Sproxton, Leicestershire