CAMPAIGNERS are demanding disclosure of gifts received by the royal family.
The call comes after the Observer reported that King Charles and his family had failed to publish any record of their official gifts over the past four years.
According to the newspaper, palace officials cited the pandemic, change of monarch and coronation preparations as reasons why a list was not published.
Currently, royals are not officially required to declare gifts on a public register of interests. But the palace did begin publishing “gift lists” after facing scrutiny when a Saudi royal gave the then Duchess of Cornwall a £1 million ruby necklace.
The Observer reported that despite a gift list being made public, presents were often concealed, including the list of gifts received by William and Kate at their wedding in 2011.
The lists have not been published since 2020, despite a scandal two years later revealing that the King had accepted £2.6m in cash from a Qatari politician for his Prince of Wales charity.
According to current rules, gifts are only counted as official if they are received in connection with official duties such as state banquets or royal tours.
Official gifts are not meant to be treated as personal property but are accepted on behalf of the nation.
Gifts that are accepted from people that royals know privately without connection with an official engagement or duty are considered “personal.”
Leader of anti-monarchy campaign group Republic Graham Smith said that the royals “have form when it comes to blurring the lines between what’s theirs to keep and what’s an official gift.
“If politicians are being lambasted for failing to declare gifts, the same should apply to the royals,” he said.
“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 favours for them and their friends.
“There’s usually a good reason why billionaires and Saudi businessmen give gifts: because something is expected in return.
“So we need full disclosure, not just of royal gifts but also royal lobbying.”
