Keeper of the Privy Purse
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. At coronations in recent centuries, the holders of this office invariably carried a ceremonial purse, embroidered with the royal coat of arms.[1]
Present day
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.[2] The current Keeper of the Privy Purse and Treasurer to the King is James Chalmers.
History
In 1920, as part of a re-arrangement of duties in the Royal Household of King George V, the Keeper of His Majesty's Privy Purse was retitled 'Treasurer to the King and Keeper of the Privy Purse'; at the same time the Secretary of the Privy Purse became 'Assistant Treasurer to the King, and Secretary of the Privy Purse'.[3] In 1922, the latter office-holder (Sir John Chapple) was redesignated as 'Deputy Keeper of the Privy Purse',[4] though he resigned from office the following year. His successor was (once again) appointed 'Secretary of His Majesty's Privy Purse';[5] while, two months later, a separate 'Deputy Treasurer to the King' was appointed.[6] Subsequently, these two officers served, under the 'Treasurer to the King and Keeper of the Privy Purse', as respective heads of the Privy Purse Office and the Treasurer's Office.[7] Towards the end of George V's reign, the office of Keeper of the Privy Purse was briefly combined with that of Private Secretary to the King, with the erstwhile Deputy Treasurer (Sir Ralph Endersby Harwood) serving as Financial Secretary to the King.[8]
List of Keepers of the Privy Purse
Henry VIII
- Henry Norris by 1526–?1536 (executed 1536)
- Anthony Denny c. 1536[9]
Edward VI
- Peter Osborne 1551–1552
Elizabeth I
- John Tamworth, 1559–1569[10]
- Henry Seckford 1559–1603[10]
James I
- Sir Richard Molyneux, 1st Baronet, 1607–?
- George Home, 1st Earl of Dunbar, c. 1610–1611[11]
- John Murray, 1st Earl of Annandale 1611–1616[11]
Charles I
- Richard Molyneux, 1st Viscount Molyneux, 1616?–1636
- Robert Carr, 1st Earl of Ancram, 1636?–1639
Charles II
- Henry Bennet, 1st Earl of Arlington, 1661–1662
- Charles Berkeley, 1st Earl of Falmouth, 1662–1665
- Baptist May 1665–1685
James II
- James Graham, 1685–1689
William III
- William Bentinck, 1st Earl of Portland, 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, 1760–1763
- William Breton, 1763–1773
- James Brudenell, 5th Earl of Cardigan, 1773–1811
- Colonel Sir John McMahon, 1st Baronet, 1812–1817
- Lieutenant-General Benjamin Bloomfield, 1st Baron Bloomfield, 1817–1822
George IV
- Sir William Knighton, 1st Baronet, 1821–1830
William IV
- Major-General Sir Henry Wheatley, 1st Baronet, 1830–1846
Victoria
- George Edward Anson 1847–1849
- Colonel Sir Charles Beaumont Phipps, 1849–1866
- General Sir Charles Grey, 1866–1867 (jointly)
- Colonel Thomas Myddleton-Biddulph, 1866–1878 (jointly to 1867)
- Major-General Sir Henry Ponsonby, 1878–1895
- Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Fleetwood Edwards, 1895–1901
Edward VII
- General Sir Dighton MacNaghton Probyn, 1901–1910
George V
- Lieutenant-Colonel Sir William Carington, 1910[12][13]–1914
- Lieutenant-Colonel Frederick Ponsonby, 1st Baron Sysonby, 1914–1935
- Colonel Clive Wigram, 1st Baron Wigram, 1935[14]–1936
Edward VIII
- Major Sir Ulick Alexander, 1936[15]
George VI
- Major Sir Ulick Alexander, 1936[16][17]–1952
Elizabeth II
- Brigadier Charles Tryon, 2nd Baron Tryon, 1952–1971
- Major Sir Rennie Maudslay, 1971–1981
- Sir Peter Miles, 1981–1987
- Major Sir Shane Blewitt, 1988–1996
- Sir Michael Peat, 1996–2002[18]
- Sir Alan Reid, 2002–2017
- Sir Michael Stevens 2018–2022[19]
Charles III
- Sir Michael Stevens, 2022–2025[20]
- James Chalmers, 2025–present[21]
Deputies
Deputy Keepers
This list is not complete.
- 1922–1925: Paymaster Rear-Admiral Sir John Henry George Chapple
- 1985–1988: Major Sir Shane Blewitt
- 1988–2002: Sir John Christopher Parsons
- 2002–?: Harold Smith
- ?–2011: Ian Donald McGregor
- 2011–2017: Sir Michael John Stevens
- 2017–present: Sally O'Neill
Deputy Treasurers
- 1923–1935: Sir Ralph Endersby Harwood
- 1941–1958: Commander Sir Dudley Colles
- 1958–1968: Commander Sir Philip John Row
- 1969–1985: Sir Russell Dillon Wood
- 1988–2002: Sir John Christopher Parsons
- 2003–2007: Stephen Ingleby Cawley
- 2007–2017: Sir Michael John Stevens
- 2017–present: Sally O'Neill
See also
References
- ↑ The British Monarchy: The Privy Purse
- ↑ “Window on my Heart”, Olave Baden-Powell, 1973, p. 201
- ↑ "No. 32086". The London Gazette. 15 October 1920. p. 9988.
- ↑ "No. 32691". The London Gazette. 5 May 1922. p. 3511.
- ↑ "No. 32797". The London Gazette. 20 February 1923. p. 1225.
- ↑ "No. 32846". The London Gazette. 20 July 1923. p. 4986.
- ↑ Whitaker's Almanack 1925. London: J. Whitaker and Sons. 1924. p. 102. Retrieved 27 June 2026.
- ↑ "No. 34220". The London Gazette. 15 November 1935. p. 7224.
- ↑ Emerson, Kate. Secrets of the Tudor Court: Between Two Queens.
- 1 2 Kinney. Titled Elizabethans: A Directory of Elizabethan Court, State, and Church.
- 1 2 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. 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". 26 July 2016.
- ↑ "Sir Alan Reid, the Queen's money man, to hand over Royal purse strings next year". 26 July 2016.
- ↑ "King has shown 'remarkable resilience' carrying on with royal duties, says aide". 1 July 2025.
- "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.