The Royal Family does not "pay" for Buckingham Palace in the sense of a private mortgage or rent; it is a working royal palace held in trust by the Crown Estate for the nation. The upkeep, maintenance, and massive multi-year renovation projects (costing hundreds of millions of pounds) are funded by the Sovereign Grant. This grant is a percentage of the profits generated by the Crown Estate—a massive portfolio of land and properties owned by the monarch but managed independently. In 2026, while the King does not pay "rent," he does pay for his own private staff and personal living expenses at other private estates like Sandringham or Balmoral. The King also pays voluntary income tax on his private income and his share of the Duchy of Lancaster profits. So, while the taxpayer (via the Crown Estate profits) maintains the historic fabric of the palace, the Royal Family’s personal costs are largely covered by their own private wealth and hereditary estates.
Yes, a husband and wife (or any two World of Hyatt members) can share and combine their Hyatt points for free. Unlike many other hotel loyalty programs that charge a fee for point transfers, Hyatt allows you to combine points with any other member at no cost. To do this, both parties must fill out and sign a "Points Combining Request Form" (a PDF document available on the Hyatt website) and email it to [email protected]. There are a few key rules: you can only participate in a points-combining transaction (either as a sender or a receiver) once every 30 days. While the names on the accounts do not need to match or be at the same address, both accounts must be in good standing. This is an exceptionally generous policy that allows couples to pool their points into one account to reach the threshold for a high-category luxury stay or to utilize one spouse's Globalist status for the entire reservation. Note that the process is manual and can take anywhere from a few days to a week to be finalized in the 2026 system.