The funding for the UK’s Royal Family has long been a cause for speculation and public discussion.
Country homes, stunning jewellery collections, classic cars and priceless art collections are among their assets.
But just how much is funded by private incomes and how much by the taxpayer remains somewhat shrouded in secrecy.
Here’s what we know about the finances of the Royal Family.
How is the Royal Family funded?
The Government provides financial support to the monarchy through a mostly taxpayer-funded settlement known as the Sovereign Grant.
This includes funding for:
- maintenance of royal residences for formal entertaining and ceremonial events
- royal travel for official engagements in the UK and overseas
- employment costs for Royal Household staff who support the work of the King
The level of the grant is linked but not directly derived from profits from the Crown Estate, a £16bn portfolio of land including the Windsor Estate, Ascot racecourse, properties in the West End of London and parts of the seabed and shoreline around the UK.
For 2024/25, the Sovereign Grant is set at £86.3m.
The Grant is extended at the beginning of a new reign, reviewed every five years and subject to scrutiny by Parliament and the National Audit Office.
But a clause in the Sovereign Grant Act means it can go up but it can never be less than the amount paid the previous year, even if Crown Estate profits fall.
Following the most recent review, the Sovereign Grant has been set at 12 per cent of Crown Estate profits.
A significant rise in Crown Estate profits means the Sovereign Grant will increase to £132.1m in 2025/26.
How much does the Royal Family cost the taxpayer?
Financial reports for the Royal Family for 2022-23 revealed the Sovereign Grant was £86.3m, of which the core grant was £51.8m to fund official travel, property maintenance and the operating costs of the Sovereign’s household.
The remaining £34.5m was used for the reservicing of royal residences such as Buckingham Palace.
The core grant cost 77p per person in the UK and the total grant cost £1.29 per person in the UK in that financial year.
According to the royal accounts, official expenditure was more than the Sovereign Grant in that year due to a change of monarch.
These costs were met by dipping into the Sovereign Grant reserve to the tune of £20.7m.
How else do the Royals make money?
In addition to the Sovereign Grant, King Charles receives income from the Duchy of Lancaster a portfolio of land, property and assets.
The rural estates consist of 44,748 acres of land in England and Wales and comprise commercial, agricultural and residential properties, the majority of which are in Lancashire, Yorkshire, Cheshire, Staffordshire and Lincolnshire.
At the end of March 2024, the Duchy had net assets of £647.6m of net assets and the King received approximately £29.56m from the private estate.
The King uses this money to pay the other “working royals” who carry out royal duties, such as the Princess Royal, the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh, the Duke of Kent, the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester, and Princess Alexandra.
When Prince William became heir apparent, he took over ownership of the Duchy of Cornwall from his father.
It is a private estate consisting of around 52,449 hectares in 20 counties, mostly in the South West of England, and a private investment portfolio.
It is estimated to be worth £1.3bn and the Prince of Wales income from it in the financial year 2023/24 was £23.6m.
Aside from these estates, both the King and Prince William have inherited wealth from parents and grandparents.
The King directly owns Sandringham and Balmoral Castle but the Crown Estate owns much of the other major real estate associated with the royals, including Windsor, St James’ Palace, Clarence House, and Kensington Palace. This means the family can use them and stay in them but never sell them.
The Crown Jewels, estimated to be valued between £3-£5bn, are held in a trust by the Royal Family.
How much is King Charles worth?
King Charles is not the richest man in Britain but he is by some estimations a billionaire.
A “comprehensive audit of the king’s assets” by The Guardian in April 2023 revealed King Charles has private wealth estimated to be £1.815bn in total.
This included his private properties jewellery collections, Rolls-Royces, a rare stamp collection and artwork by artists such as Monet and Dali.
Buckingham Palace does not comment on the personal finances of royals but a spokesperson for the King described The Guardian‘s revelations at the time as “a highly creative mix of speculation, assumption and inaccuracy.”
The Sunday Times Rich List for 2024 ranked the King as 258 = among the wealthy elite in the UK, below Sir Paul McCartney, JK Rowling and Rishi Sunak, with an estimated fortune of £610m, up £10m from 2023.
How much are the other Royals worth?
There is never any official disclosure about the private wealth of any of the members of the Royal Family.
However, there have been varying estimates about Prince William’s private fortune.
The website celebritynetworth.com has estimated his private wealth has a net worth of around £94m.
He is known to have inherited a trust funds from his late mother Diana, Princess of Wales and the Queen Mother on her death in 2002.
He also inherited the Duchy of Cornwall from his father, when Charles acceded to the throne. This provided Prince William with an income of approximately £23.6m in 2023/24.
Princess Anne is reported to have a net worth of around £7.8m, while her brother Prince Edward is said to be worth £7.5m.
Do the Royals pay tax?
There is no legal obligation for the King or the Prince of Wales to pay tax.
However, since 1993 the Monarch and her or his heir has voluntarily paid income tax on income from the Duchies and earnings from personal investments but not on the Sovereign Grant.
Capital gains and inheritance tax are also paid in certain circumstances.
And local taxation is also paid on a voluntary basis, as set out in the Memorandum of Understanding between the Treasury and the Royal Household from July 2023.
How much does the Royal Family earn for the UK?
The Royal Family’s contribution to the UK economy is difficult to quantify in one specific number, but it is generally considered to be significant.
Brand Finance estimated in 2023 that the Royal Family contributes around £2.5bn to the British economy annually, while the average annual cost for UK taxpayers in royal upkeep comes to around £500m a year.
The Crown Estate said it delivered a record £1.1bn net revenue profit for public finances in the year 2023 to 2024.
This figure is £658.1m higher than the year before, and means that more than £4bn has been delivered to the Treasury in the past 10 years.
Dan Labbad, ehief executive officer at The Crown Estate, said: “[These] record results are the product of years of commitment and investment into helping create the UK’s world-leading offshore wind sector, as well as the active management of our diverse and resilient portfolio.”
The Royal Family generates tourism revenue for the country via the royal collection and the Crown’s estate, though the latest estimates suggest this his decreased in recent years.
The Crown estate includes various properties based in the UK, including Regent Street in London, Windsor Great Park and Ascot Racecourse.
