Two trustees of the Royal Albert Hall have been accused of touting shows, including the Teenage Cancer Trust charity concert with Paul Weller and Roger Daltry. The Times has named Leon Baroukh (34) whose family controls 51 seats in the iconic venue, and Richard Waterbury (65) whose family control 29 seats. They are the two largest owners of seats, ahead of HM The Queen who controls 20 seats including the Royal Box. Promoter Harvey Goldsmith said "That certain of the box-holders are running a business out of it is disgusting. I think they have got no right to be on the Council [Trustees]. Richard Waterbury defended his actions saying his family used many of the tickets and that he needed to recoup the annual charge for each seat, saying that returns from the official ticket sale system to seat holders were 'peanuts'. Mr Baroukh described his seats as "passive, modestly yielding, long term investment". Seat holders have the right to access their seats on a number of concert dates every year and can sell the tickets for such shows under the provisions of the Royal Albert Hall Act 1966. The Hall is a charity and has received £40 million in public funding from the Lottery. More in the Times, Tuesday March 27th 2012 "Trustees turn to touting at the Royal Albert Hall".
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