[9] These revenues proceed directly to His Majesty's Treasury, for the benefit of the British nation; a percentage of them is then distributed back to the monarch.

[3][10][11] The Crown Estate is formally accountable to the Parliament of the United Kingdom,[12] where it is legally mandated to provide an annual report for the sovereign, a copy of which is forwarded to the House of Commons.

[16][17] Historically, Crown Estate properties were administered by the reigning monarch to help fund the business of governing the country.

On 1 April 2012, under the terms of the Sovereign Grant Act 2011 (SSG), the Civil List was abolished and the monarch has since been provided with a stable source of revenue indexed to a percentage of the Crown Estate's annual net income.

[18] This was intended to provide a long-term solution and remove the politically sensitive issue of Parliament having to debate the Civil List allowance every ten years.

Subsequently, the Sovereign Grant Act allows for all future monarchs to simply extend these provisions for their reigns by Order in Council.

[21] When the Domesday survey was completed in 1086, the king was still the largest single landholder, possessing over 18 percent of the landed estates in England.

[25] The disposals outweighed the acquisitions: at the time of the Restoration in 1660, the total revenue arising from Crown lands was estimated to be £263,598 (equal to £49,987,935 today).

[29] As the state machinery expanded, the cost of the civil government exceeded the income from the Crown lands and feudal rights; this created a personal debt for the monarch.

On George III's accession he surrendered the income from the Crown lands to Parliament, and abrogated responsibility for the cost of the civil government and the clearance of associated debts.

As a result, and to avoid pecuniary embarrassment, he was granted a fixed civil list payment and the income retained from the Duchy of Lancaster.

[30] The King surrendered to parliamentary control the hereditary excise duties, post office revenues, and "the small branches" of hereditary revenue including rents of the Crown lands in England (which amounted to about £11,000, or £2,100,767 today),[26] and was granted a civil list annuity of £800,000 (equal to £152,783,019 today)[26] for the support of his household, subject to the payment of certain annuities to members of the royal family.

[30] Although the King had retained large hereditary revenues, his income proved insufficient for his charged expenses because he used the privilege to reward supporters with bribes and gifts.

[37][38] The Crown Estate in Wales includes the coastal seabed up to 12 nautical miles, approximately 65% of the foreshore as well as the Welsh river bed and ports and marinas.

[42] The Crown Estate announced £1.2million would be invested into the Morlais tidal stream demonstration zone, developed by Menter Môn.

Poll breakdown showed that all major political party voters supported devolution of the estate in Wales.

[52][53] In 1828 the lease expired, and Richard Griffith was appointed to supervise its improvement, including the foundation of the model village of Kingwilliamstown.

The occupational sub-lessees were seven years in arrears with their rent and the result was the Ballykilcline "removals" – free emigration to the new world in 1846.

[64] These holdings mainly comprised former ecclesiastical land (following the abolition of the episcopacy in 1689) in Caithness and Orkney, and ancient royal possession in Stirling and Edinburgh, and feudal dues.

Two years later, the Crown Estate sold its stake and used the funds to assume full ownership of the Gallagher Retail Park in Cheltenham.

[74] In 2002 the Crown Estate began implementing a £1 billion investment programme to improve Regent Street's commercial, retail, and visitor facilities and public realm.

Other commercial activity managed by the Crown Estate on the seabed includes wave and tidal energy, carbon capture and storage, aggregates, submarine cables and pipelines and the mining of potash.

In terms of the foreshore, the Crown Estate issue licences or leases for around 850 aquaculture sites and owns marina space for approximately 18,000 moorings.

[79] In the 2021/2022 fiscal year, the Crown Estate's property evaluation was £15.6 billion with a £312.7 million net revenue profit, which is paid into the Consolidated Fund of the UK government.