In 1760, the British monarchy was effectively bankrupt. Up to that year, when George III inherited the throne, the monarch had been responsible for meeting the increasing costs of a wide range of public services, including the army and the civil service.
So a deal was reached whereby responsibility for most of these matters was transferred to parliament and, to fund these services, the revenues from royal landholdings in what is now known as the Crown Estate were surrendered to parliament, so in effect to the public.
Henceforth, a civil list would provide an annual income to the monarch from the public purse to enable royal duties to be carried out. In 1760, this was set at the generous level of £800,000 a year.
