Chapter 380 - 377: Finances, Plans, And Allies (1/2)

After getting dressed and having brunch, Serena decided that it's time to talk with Fergus, the head butler. Fergus, she learned, has worked as Geoffrey's head butler in his own palace wing before taking over the position in Kensington house. She also realized while talking to him that he was very organized and competent. It was easy for him to answer all her inquiries.

Their first topic was the household. Kensington house was owned by the royal family thus the fund to maintain the house also comes from the royal's public fund. That practice doesn't change even when the crown prince marries and takes the house as his family's personal lodging. However, that doesn't mean that the prince gets to live there totally expense free.

The house receives an annual budget of 2 million and it compromises of the employ's salary, house maintenance, and house renovations. Looking at the breakdown of accounts, Serena thought that the budget was only good for sustaining the house when none of the royals actually live there.

Anyhow, she took note of the sudden inflated expenditure last year on the account and Fergus smiled at her explaining that the house went through an extensive renovation, all at the personal expense of his royal highness.

Serena could only smile and shake her head. From there, she confirmed that Geoffrey has been preparing for their marriage long before he proposed to her.

Anyhow, the second thing they discussed was Geoffrey's finances. For that, Fergus called in Geoffrey's estate manager, Divan.

Divan who joined the meeting explained that Geoffrey's finances were divided into two. One was his personal income, the other from the royal fund.

Last year, Geoffrey received an annual budget of 5 million from the royal fund. It was for his work, activities and office which were in line with his responsibilities as the crown prince. The expenditure of the fund must be outlined clearly and submitted to the house of lords at the beginning of their session for the year.

Now, since Geoffrey got married, his annual budget has also been increased to accommodate the crown princess. Before the wedding itself happened, the budget has been approved and increased to 8 million, but that will only take into effect next year.

On the other hand, Geoffrey's personal account, compromises of his own income. As minister of social welfare, he receives his own salary amounting to 3 million a year, which equates the money earned by other royal dukes. Then, aside from that, he also has his income coming from his estates, in which, he receives sizable earnings from rent. Thus, in a year, he makes about 10 million.

Although money should not be something she needed to think about given their position, she thought that it was still important especially for the machinations in the battle for the crown. Anyhow, she needed to talk about it with Geoffrey later.

After discussing the finances, Serena asked Fergus to gather all the house employs for her to meet. According to the accounts there were about a hundred employees in the house. It was not surprising though. The house was huge.

The main house was not that big, but she surmised that cleaning the guesthouse and the ballroom, plus maintaining the perfectly manicured extensive garden must be a lot of work. Then, there were also staff there whose purpose was to be there when she wants to host parties. Aside from that there was also the stable which she has not seen just yet. According to Fergus it houses about four dozen of horses. She was not surprised though, Geoffrey as she knew him in the past, loves polo, which of course involves riding horses. If she were not pregnant, she thinks that she would ride one with him for romance. Yes, she said she hated horses for their smell, but that was just an exaggeration.