Queen’s ‘seabed rights’ swell to value of £5bn after auction of plots

British crown estate portfolio rises in value by 8.3% to 15.6bn

The value of rights owned by the Queen's property company to exploit the seabed around Britain's coastline has swelled to 5bn after a record-breaking auction of plots for offshore windfarms.

Profits for the crown estate, which generates money for the Treasury and the royal family, jumped by 43.4m to 312.7m in the year to the end of March.