How transparent are the royals being about money?

In the blizzard of numbers published about royal finances, there is one figure that's very revealing. It's £99.9m for the level of next year's Sovereign Grant, the public funding for the running costs of the monarchy, covering costs like travel, staff and building maintenance. Not £100m, but £99.9m, the type of figure we're used to seeing in retail settings - £9.99 rather than a tenner - keeping a figure below a threshold, in a sales tactic that's sometimes called "charm pricing" or "psychological pricing". What it reveals about the royal finances is the importance about how things look, the optics of the moment. It's recognising that the public is watching and wants to see value for money. In the background is the shadow of the scandals surrounding Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor. There was a clear message from MPs and the public that they expected more transparency and accountability about how public money was being spent by the royals. So there has been an undoubted step in that direction. The publishing of the King's personal tax payments is information never before shared, so it is authentically being more open with the public. If you can feel a "but" coming, it's that we do not ha