Good headline, but...

Queen gets 5% pay rise, the press scream.  No she doesn't!  What has happened is that the money raised from the various properties owned by the Crown throughout the country has increased, and by an arrangement entered into a few years ago, the Queen keeps a small percentage of this money for her living expenses - the rest goes to the Treasury.  So she's not had a pay rise any more than I've had a pay rise when the value of my house or my shareholdings increase.  The timing of the announcement was unfortunate, coming as it did the day after the Chancellor announced a further tranche of spending cuts, but don't try and make it something it isn't.