King Charles Is Getting a Big Raise From U.K. Taxpayers Over the Next Few Years

  • Oops!
    Something went wrong.
    Please try again later.


After reportedly earning $34.3 million (£26.2 million pounds) from U.K. rent increases this year, King Charles and the rest of the British royal family are set to get another big earnings bump.


Treasury officials revealed Thursday that the proportion of the Crown Estate’s profits paid to the monarchy will shrink to 12 percent from next year, down from its current rate of 25 percent, according to figures released in a new review of the annual Sovereign Grant. Though that sounds like less cash would be flowing, a drastic increase in profits means the royal family will get more money than it has in years past.


The taxpayer-funded sum given to the family, known as a sovereign grant, is linked to profits created by the Crown Estate—which includes every hereditary asset belonging to the monarch such as land and areas of the British coastline, according to CNBC. The portfolio has a value of £16 billion ($20.5 billion), the report states, and has accumulated “substantial additional income” from offshore wind facilities.


The sovereign grant, calculated from profits made two years prior to the current year, sits at £86.3 million for 2023. Meanwhile, the royal family is expected to generate £1.04 billion ($1.3 billion) from the Crown Estate from 2023 to 2024, as well as an additional £1.05 billion ($1.5 billion) from 2024 to 2025, the report states. With the new formula applied, the monarchy may get £124.8 million ($160 million) in 2025 and £126 million ($162 million) the following year—an uptick from 2023’s rate.

Click here to read the full article.


The trustees said they were “satisfied that this expected step up in the Grant level is appropriate,” according to the review, as funding has remained stable in previous years. They added that the past 25 percent figure was “no longer appropriate” as the royal family’s net profits could exceed £1 billion ($1.3 billion), meaning the percentage would be “significantly in excess of the Household’s needs.”


Buckingham Palace and the Treasury did not dispute that the sovereign grant would increase in the coming years, in response to the The Guardian‘s request for comment. A spokeswoman told the publication the increase would be temporary and “only for the financial years of 2025-6 and 2026-7.”


This complex formula to determine the size of the sovereign grant was originally introduced in 2011 by then-prime minister David Cameron, as well as his chancellor, George Osborne. It replaced parliament’s past system that had been in place for centuries, tying the monarch’s fundings to a cut of the profits of the Crown Estate.