There's No Grifter Like an Aristocrat

It's called bona vacantia. When a Brit dies intestate and there are no known relatives, the dead person's assets go to either the Duke or Cornwall or the Duke of Lancaster, if the dead person resides in those domains. The duke (King Chuck for Lancaster, Prince Billy for Cornwall) is supposed to hold it in trust for any future claimants, but the reality of it is that they are free to use it as a slush fund.

King Big Ears uses the money to refurbish properties he owns, so they can be rented out for more money, and the rental proceeds are part of his income. His predecessor, Eddie VIII, just outright took the money. Supposedly, when it came to light after the Second World War that the then-king was making bank from those dead servicemen who died intestate and without relatives, the royals promised that the proceeds would go to charity.

But that hasn't happened in reality. It's pretty hard to see how refurbishing Chickie's rental properties qualifies as a charitable use. The Brits spend more on their royal welfare clan than any other country, but that's not enough for them, it would seem. Whatever they manage to get from their various properties and investments and so forth apparently are tax-free, so their profits don't contribute a whit to the national purse.

Of the European countries that had royal heads at the end of the 19th Century, all of the others have managed to downgrade or eliminate their system of rule by inbred cousins. Only the Brits seem to be devoted to maintaining their system of highly expensive and otherwise useless tourist attractions.

H/T