Letter: Crown and state

Thursday 10 September 1998 00:02 BST

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Sir: Jennifer Miller (letter, 5 September) fails to distinguish between the property of the Queen and the possessions of the Crown. The Crown Estates, which include most of the country's foreshore and the sea- bed up to the 12-mile limit, belong to the state, not the Windsor family, only held by the Sovereign "in right of the Crown".

Their income was surrendered to Parliament by a bankrupt George III not simply in exchange for the Civil List (which already existed) but also in return for relief from other costs traditionally borne by the Crown, such as the maintenance of the legal system. The Estate revenues would still be received by the Government under a republic, so they are irrelevant to any calculation of the cost of the monarchy.

ROGER HOUGHTON

Bath, Somerset

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