- The Guardian,
- Monday October 30, 2000
- Article history
The Queen is understood to have bought into Poptones, the renegade record label set up by Alan McGee, the music industry mogul who discovered Oasis.
It emerged yesterday that 2.5m shares, representing a stake of just under 3%, were bought for £50,000 out of the privy purse, the monarch's private income.
The holding, valued at £56,250 based on Friday's 2p closing price, is the second of the Queen's personal investments to be made public after it was revealed she held a stake in online company Getmapping.com.
Mr McGee, chief executive officer of Poptones, which was floated on the Alternative Investment Market in August, is known for his anti-royalist views.
In a statement issued last night, Mr McGee said: "Anyone can buy shares in Poptones, even the Queen. While I am not a monarchist, I can applaud her sound financial sense. It's a shock that she is a shareholder but that is the nature of plcs. You can choose your friends but you can't choose your shareholders."
The investment was made in the name of the keeper of the privy purse, Sir Michael Peat, according to citywire.co.uk, the financial news website.
It is understood income for this purse comes from various sources, including the Duchy of Lancaster, the 50,000 acre estate encompassing Yorkshire and south Wales.
Buckingham Palace refused to comment. A spokeswoman said: "The Queen's investment portfolio is a matter for her, her advisers and, where necessary, the inland revenue. We don't comment on any alleged investments, not least because it would appear to be an endorsement."
