经济危机 英国女王也受穷

The Queen's reserve of public funds is set to run out by 2012, according to Buckingham Palace accounts published today, raising expectations that the government will be asked to increase the civil list, which pays for the running of the royal household. 据今天公布的白金汉宫账户显示，英国女王的公共储备基金到2012年将告罄；这让各方预期，王室将要求英国政府增加用来支付王室日常开支的王室费。

 

 

The Queen has used up £6m from the cash reserve to boost the civil list. The amount is the largest ever drawn from the reserve of surplus cash from the list. 女王已经从现金储备中提取6百万英镑以充实王室费。该数额是有史以来从王室费储备金中提取的最大一笔现金。

Palace officials have complained that they lack funds to properly maintain some royal residences. They once claimed that part of the facade of Buckingham Palace was in such bad repair that a chunk fell off, narrowly missing Princess Anne. 白金汉宫官员抱怨说，他们缺乏资金妥善维护某些皇家住宅。他们曾声称，白金汉宫的某部分外墙年久失修，以至于一大块墙面掉落下来，险些砸到安妮公主。

The total cost to the taxpayer of keeping the monarchy increased by £1.5m to £41.5m during the 2008-09 financial year – effectively 69p per British person last year and an increase of 3p on the previous year. The civil list was £13.9m last year, 43% of which came from the Queen's reserve. 在2008-2009财政年度内，英国纳税人奉养英国王室的总开支增加了150万英镑，达4150万英镑——实际上相当于去年每个英国人承担了69便士，比上一年增加了3便士。去年王室费达1390万英镑，其中43%来自女王的公共储备基金。

If she continues drawing on the reserve at the current rate, she will run out of funds by 2012 – the year of her diamond jubilee. 如果她继续按目前的速度提取储备金的话，她将在2012年——她的钻石婚纪念那年——用完储备基金。

The fund has gone down from £35m to £21m over the last decade. 该储备基金在过去十年中已经从3500万英镑下降到2100万英镑。

The current deal – in which the Queen gets £7.9m a year – was agreed by Sir John Major in 1990. The arrangement expires in 2010.目前，在1990年经约翰•梅杰爵士（Sir John Major）同意，英国女王每年可获得790万英镑。而这项安排将于2010年到期。