Britain’s King Charles wants to divert some of royal estate’s windfarm profits to ‘wider public’

King Charles III wants the extra profits from a $1.2 billion Crown Estate windfarm deal to be diverted to the public rather than to the royal family.

Funds from the newly inked agreement announced Thursday help support the royals, but the king has asked that some of the money be used for the “wider public” instead, the palace said.

The Crown Estate is a commercial business that’s independently run, and its profits land in the U.K.’s coffers. The amount is then used to calculate funding for the Sovereign Grant, the public money used to support the royal family. Last year’s Sovereign Grant was worth 86.3 million pounds, or $106.4 million.

Normally, 25% of the Crown Estate’s annual profits go to the royal family. The 25% was a temporary increase from 15%, a 10-year bump begun in 2017-18 to offset Buckingham Palace restoration costs.

Sir Michael Stevens, the Keeper of the Privy Purse, told BBC News he had written to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Chancellor Jeremy Hunt to propose an “appropriate reduction” and that the matter is being reviewed.

The Sovereign Grant pays royal palace maintenance as well as expenses that working royals incur on official engagements. But as the cost of living spirals out of control, the king — who ascended the throne after the death of Queen Elizabeth II last fall — has acknowledged the economic hardship imposed by inflation and cost of living increases.

Republic, an activist group opposing the monarchy, called the funding request “cynical PR to pre-empt a government decision to reduce the percentage” and said it “reflected an arrangement he had no power to change.”

Charles also drew criticism last year for allegedly informing a chunk of his staff — during his mother’s funeral — that they would probably lose their jobs as he made the move from Clarendon House to Buckingham Palace.

With News Wire Services