On 1 April 2012 the arrangements for the funding of The Queen’s Official Duties changed.
The new system of funding, referred to as the ‘Sovereign Grant’, replaced the Civil List and the three Grants-in-Aid (for Royal Travel, Communications and Information, and the Maintenance of the Royal Palaces) with a single, consolidated annual grant.
The Sovereign Grant is designed to be a more permanent arrangement than the old Civil List system, which was reign-specific.
