Alec - perhaps you might read my latest contribution.
I do think that Victoria almost certainly had the Hanover matter in mind when she designated some property to be for the crown.
However, come the revolution, as I like to say, everything will depend on whether that is conducted in a civilized fashion or by turmoil and bloodshed. If civilized, then it will take many committeees and councils a long time to sort out just who gets what.
--Previous Message-- : Thank you Nellie. : I have always wondered if, legally, the : jewels left to the Crown by Queen Victoria : were State property, as we most often hear, : or should be looked as entailed on the : acting Sovereign. I have no idea of the : exact terms which underpin this bequest, but : I tend to believe the intention at least : was to ensure some meaningful pieces stayed : at the disposal of future Sovereigns, after : the Hanover disaster. I would argue that : these pieces would not automatically be kept : by the British state should Britain ever : become a republic, but that the last acting : Sovereign would have a strong claim to them. : : --Previous Message-- : : I would like to comment on the British : situation only, to not confuse various : issues across countries. : : In the British system it needs to be : remembered that the person who is monarch : functions in two ways - as the monarch and : as a private person. : Anything relating to the crown cannot be : considered private. So items left to the : crown are not for the person to treat as : private property. : : Property held by the Royal Collection is a : third category , which the sovereign holds : in trust, meaning the current monarch holds : it for the next, and so on. : : The Crown Jewels, referring to the : regalia in the Tower, is a fourth category. : It probably belongs to the State but pieces : could belong to the Church. I think : "ownership" pedants could debate : these pieces endlessly regarding who they : belong to. : : I have long felt there is another category, : particularly for the jewels worn by the : Queen; jewels which are her private property : but which pass down the reigning line of the : family - perhaps under an informal : understanding or by some formal arrangement : these days, since Edward VIII. : Royal wills are not made public and we can : only conjecture. : We have been aware of arrangments reached : with governments over inheritances to : avoid death duties - a practical measure : to avoid dissipating a wonderful collection : of private jewels that are used in a very : public way. : : : : :