Royal Inflation? King Charles Dipped Into His Reserve Fund Due to the Cost of Living Increases

People throughout the world have been feeling the effects of inflation recently. Yet many of the globe’s wealthiest residents remain largely protected from the vicissitudes of the economy. The royal family, however, not so much.

Thanks to high costs this year, King Charles III and his kin had to turn to their monetary reserves to pay their expenses, The New York Times reported on Thursday. In total, the royal family’s official expenses for the previous fiscal year were about $135 million (£107 million). For some of that, Charles had to take out $26 million (£20.7 million) from a reserve fund.

It was “a year of grief, change and celebration, the like of which our nation has not witnessed for seven decades,” Michael Stevens, who oversees the royal family’s finances, said in a statement quoted by the Times.

The details of the royal family’s finances were disclosed in a report also released on Thursday. A good deal of the deficit was due to the death of Queen Elizabeth II and renovations at Buckingham Palace. Elizabeth’s funeral cost the royal family a whopping $2 million (£1.6 million pounds), while the palace is in the midst of a decade-long, $467 million revamp scheduled to be completed in 2027.

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While both of those scenarios are uniquely once-in-a-lifetime events, everyday economics is affecting the royal family in the same way it’s impacting regular citizens: Stevens said that due to the rising costs of food and fuel, the family’s operating expenses rose five percent from the previous fiscal year.

Since 2012, the royal family has received a fixed sum to cover its expenses, currently sitting at $108 million (£86.3 million). That number hasn’t changed in the past two years, despite rising costs across the board. To supplement that money, the royal family takes some cash from the Royal Collection Trust, which charges visitors to see royal residences. Charles is open to the idea of expanding paid access to Buckingham Palace to help offset costs even more, according to the Times. (He and Queen Camilla are currently living in Clarence House while the renovations take place.)

While the number revealed in this week’s financial report is quite large, it doesn’t begin to encompass the family’s security costs, or, say, Prince William’s expenses. So even though the royal family isn’t relatable in many ways, it’s feeling the same pinch experienced by everyday citizens.