How, originally, did the royal family come into hereditary possession of the Crown Estates?
When King William I (William the Conqueror) conquered England after the Battle of Hastins in 1066, he effectively aquired all the land in the country as his own. The Crown Estate then passed through the line of succession to the next King or Queen and so on. However, over time, parcels of land were granted to nobles and barons (and they could then sell their holdings to third parties) reducing the Crown Estate to its current position. However the Crown retains ultimate ownership of all the land in the UK. The revenues of the Crown lands were used to pay for government, as the monarch was responsible for running the country and paid for the courts, armed forces etc. George III surrendered the revenues of the Crown Estate to the government, in return for a civil list payment and the government took on all responsbility for the administration of the country. At the begining of each reign, the new monarch is asked to continue this arrangement- and so far none have refused, even though the
