Keeper of the Privy Purse

Treasurer to the British monarchy

The Keeper of the Privy Purse and Treasurer to the King/Queen (or Financial Secretary to the King/Queen) is responsible for the financial management of the Royal Household of the Sovereign of the United Kingdom. The officeholder is assisted by the Deputy Treasurer to the King/Queen for the management of the Sovereign Grant, currently Sally O'Neill (formerly Chief Operating Officer of the Royal Opera House).

The officeholder is also assisted by the Deputy Keeper of the Privy Purse for semi-private concerns, such as racing stables, the Royal Philatelic Collection, Royal Ascot, the Chapel Royal, the Page of Honour, Military Knights of Windsor, Royal Maundy, the Royal Victorian Order, grace and favour apartments, and the Duchy of Lancaster. These are funded from the Privy Purse, which is drawn largely from the Duchy of Lancaster and the Duchy of Cornwall.

The Keeper of the Privy Purse meets the Sovereign at least weekly. Among the duties is the allocation of grace and favour apartments at the royal palaces.^[1] The current Keeper of the Privy Purse and Treasurer to the King is Sir Michael Stevens.

At coronations in recent centuries, the holders of this office have invariably carried a ceremonial purse, embroidered with the royal coat of arms.^[2]

List of Keepers of the Privy Purse

Henry VIII

Henry Norris by 1526–?1536 (executed 1536)
Anthony Denny c. 1536^[3]

Edward VI

Peter Osborne 1551–1552

Elizabeth I

John Tamworth, 1559–1569^[4]
Henry Seckford 1559–1603^[4]

James II

James Graham, 1685–1689

William III

William Bentinck, 1st Earl of Portland, KG, PC 1689–1700
Caspar Frederick Henning, 1700–1702

Anne

Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough 1702–1711
Abigail Masham, Baroness Masham 1711–1714

George I

Caspar Frederick Henning, 1714–1727

George II

Augustus Schutz, 1727–1757
The Honourable Edward Finch, 1757–1760

George III

John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute, KG, PC 1760–1763
William Breton, 1763–1773
James Brudenell, 5th Earl of Cardigan, PC 1773–1811
The Right Honourable Colonel Sir John McMahon, 1st Baronet, 1812–1817
Lieutenant-General Benjamin Bloomfield, 1st Baron Bloomfield, GCB GCH PC 1817–1822

George IV

The Right Honourable Sir William Knighton, 1st Baronet, GCH 1821–1830

William IV

Major-General Sir Henry Wheatley, 1st Baronet, GCH, CB 1830–1846

Victoria

George Edward Anson 1847–1849
Colonel The Honourable Sir Charles Beaumont Phipps KCB 1849–1866
General The Honourable Sir Charles Grey 1866–1867 (jointly)
Colonel Thomas Myddleton-Biddulph KCB 1866–1878 (jointly to 1867)
Major-General Sir Henry Ponsonby GCB 1878–1895
The Right Honourable Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Fleetwood Edwards GCVO, KCB, ISO 1895–1901

Edward VII

The Right Honourable General Sir Dighton Probyn, VC, GCB, GCSI, GCVO, ISO 1901–1910

George V

The Right Honourable Lieutenant-Colonel Sir William Carington GCVO KCB JP 1910^[6]^[7]–1914
Lieutenant-Colonel Frederick Ponsonby, 1st Baron Sysonby GCB GCVO PC 1914–1935
Colonel Clive Wigram, 1st Baron Wigram GCB GCVO CSI PC 1935^[8]–1936

George VI

Major Sir Ulick Alexander 1936^[9]^[10]–1952

Elizabeth II

Brigadier The Right Honourable Charles Tryon, 2nd Baron Tryon, GCVO, KCB, DSO, DL, OStJ 1952–1971
Major Sir Rennie Maudslay, GCVO KCB MBE 1971–1981
Sir Peter Miles, KCVO 1981–1987
Major Sir Shane Blewitt, GCVO 1988–1996
Sir Michael Peat, GCVO 1996–2002^[11]
Sir Alan Reid, GCVO 2002–2017
Sir Michael Stevens KCVO 2018–2022^[12]

Charles III

Sir Michael Stevens KCVO 2022–present^[13]

Deputies

Deputy Keepers

This list is not complete.

1922–1925: Paymaster Rear-Admiral Sir John Henry George Chapple, KCB, CVO, RN
1985–1988: Major Sir Shane Gabriel Basil Blewitt, GCVO
1988–2002: Sir John Christopher Parsons, KCVO, FCA, FIC
2002–?: Harold Smith
?–2011: Ian Donald McGregor, CVO
2011–2017: Sir Michael John Stevens, KCVO
2017–present: Sally O'Neill

Deputy Treasurers

1923–1935: Sir Ralph Endersby Harwood, KCB, KCVO, CBE
1941–1958: Commander Sir Dudley Colles, KCB, KCVO, OBE, RN
1958–1968: Commander Sir Philip John Row, KCVO, OBE, RN
1969–1985: Sir Russell Dillon Wood, KCVO, VRD
1988–2002: Sir John Christopher Parsons, KCVO, FCA, FIC
2003–2007: Stephen Ingleby Cawley, CVO, FCA
2007–2017: Sir Michael John Stevens, KCVO
2017–present: Sally O'Neill

References

^ “Window on my Heart”, Olave Baden-Powell, 1973, p. 201
^ The British Monarchy: The Privy Purse
^ Emerson, Kate. Secrets of the Tudor Court: Between Two Queens.
^ ^a ^b Kinney. Titled Elizabethans: A Directory of Elizabethan Court, State, and Church.
^ ^a ^b Lemon, Robert. Calendar of State Papers, Domestic Series, of the Reigns of Edward VI., Mary ...
^ "No. 28383". The London Gazette. 10 June 1910. p. 4073.
^ "No. 12258". The Edinburgh Gazette. 10 June 1910. p. 621.
^ "No. 34220". The London Gazette. 15 November 1935. p. 7224.
^ "No. 34306". The London Gazette (Supplement). 20 July 1936. p. 4663.
^ "No. 15301". The Edinburgh Gazette. 20 July 1936. p. 623.
^ "Sir Michael Peat to step down". The Daily Telegraph. London. 24 January 2011.
^ "Sir Alan Reid, the Queen's money man, to hand over Royal purse strings next year".
^ "Sir Alan Reid, the Queen's money man, to hand over Royal purse strings next year".

"The Privy Purse and Treasurer's Office". Monarchy Today. Archived from the original on 16 April 2008.
"Keeper of the Privy Purse 1660–1837". Office-Holders in Modern Britain: Volume 11 (Revised), Court Officers, 1660-1837. London: University of London. 2006 – via British History Online.
"The Civil List". BBC News Online.