Monarchy’s income to rise by £45m to more than £130m due to Crown Estate profits
The monarchy is to receive a boost of more than £45 million, with a 53% jump in its official annual income to more than £130 million.
Soaring profits from the Crown Estate to £1.1 billion mean the taxpayer-funded Sovereign Grant, which supports the official duties of the royal family, will increase from £86.3 million in 2024/2025 to £132 million in 2025/2026.
Officials said the increase will be used to help fund the final stages of the 10-year £369 million renovation of Buckingham Palace, keeping it on time and budget.
The boost will be reviewed through legislation in 2026/27 to keep funding of the royal family at a “more appropriate” level, a Palace spokesman said.
Helicopters
A National Audit Office report on Tuesday revealed that the Palace renovation has been well managed but structural damage and the discovery of asbestos, which led to cost increases, “could have been foreseen”.
Buckingham Palace’s annual accounts – covering the first full financial year of the King’s reign – were published on Wednesday after being delayed for a month because of the General Election.
The Sovereign Grant report revealed the royal household will take delivery of two new helicopters in 2024-25 to replace the existing 15-year-old ones.
The AgustaWestland AW139s are considered a “key component” in enabling the King and royal family to carry out their engagements, allowing access to remote areas of the UK, and they will replace the current Sikorsky helicopters.
Bentleys
The King’s state Bentleys are being converted to run on bio-fuel within the next year, with a view to switching to a fleet of official electric cars in the future, while solar panels have been introduced to Windsor Castle for the first time.
Gas lanterns at Buckingham Palace, which were switched off during the recent energy crisis as a cost-saving measure, are being repurposed with specially designed electrical fittings to improve their energy efficiency while also preserving their historic look and glow.
The Sovereign Grant is funded by the taxpayer in exchange for the King’s surrender of the revenue from the Crown Estate.
The rundown of royal finances – from April 1 2023 to March 31 2024 – covers the months following the King and the Princess of Wales’s double cancer diagnosis, with both away from public facing duties from January onwards.
But the accounts also span a time of celebration, with coronation and festivities celebrating the crowning of the King and Queen in May last year.
‘Glorious’
Sir Michael Stevens, Keeper of the Privy Purse, described the coronation as a “glorious moment in our national story” but added: “If that was the high point in a royal calendar that would contain many subsequent moments of significance on the public stage, then there were also moments of personal challenge for the family at home, which have affected this year’s report in a rather different way.
“In the early part of 2024 came the sad news that both His Majesty the King and the Princess of Wales would be withdrawing from public-facing duties temporarily, to prioritise their treatment and recovery from cancer.
“This inevitably impacted on the number and nature of engagements that had been planned – though may I say how encouraging it is to see the King back performing so many public duties and, more recently, the princess similarly well enough to join the King’s Birthday Parade and the men’s Wimbledon final.”
There were more than 2,300 official engagements by members of the royal family in the UK and overseas, compared with more than 2,700 last year.
The King undertook 464 official engagements despite his cancer diagnosis, with the Queen carrying out 201, of which 103 were joint engagements.
Sir Michael added: “Behind the scenes, the work of the Royal Household continued apace, even throughout the latter course of the financial year, with His Majesty still performing his full state duties, Her Majesty taking on a greater share of public engagements, and their support teams adapting swiftly to the changing circumstances.”
The number of guests at official residents however rose by 10% to more than 105,000 with over 400 events.
The King and Kate received some 27,000 messages from well-wishers, and 31,000 congratulatory messages for the coronation, amounting to 138,000 items of correspondence for the year 2023-24.
Official travel
Official travel costs for the monarchy rose marginally by £0.3 million from £3.9 million to £4.2 million.
The most expensive travel was the King and Queen’s visit to Kenya by charter flight in October, along with the related separate staff planning visit by scheduled flights, which came to a total of £166,557.
A three-day state visit to France, with trips to Paris and Bordeaux, by Charles and Camilla by charter flight in September cost £117,942.
Housekeeping and hospitality came in at £2.6 million, up from £2.4 million last year.
But overall expenditure fell by 17% or £18.4 million from £107.5 million in 2022/23 to £89.1 million, with the Palace putting the change mostly due to an anticipated decrease in expenditure on the Palace renovation program in 2023-24.
The report also showed £600,000 from the Sovereign Grant was spent on the coronation and events surrounding it last year, with the total cost to the Sovereign Grant overall coming to £800,000.
The figure covered internal costs such as staffing, Palace receptions, plus any furnishings or costumes which be reused later on, including the readjusting of the Imperial State Crown and the King and Queen’s coronation robes.
Palace officials also confirmed the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s former home Frogmore Cottage remains empty and there are no new tenants.
Wind profits
The funding of the monarchy was switched last year from 25% to 12% of the Crown Estate’s net profits because of the rising income expected from the estate’s new offshore wind deals.
The King asked for the wind farm profits to be used for the wider public good.
If the 25% formula had continued the monarchy would have received £275 million instead in 2025/26.
Despite the percentage reduction, Crown Estate financial figures published on Wednesday showed the profits in 2023-24 were £1.1 billion, meaning the Sovereign Grant – based on funds two years in arrears – will be £132 million in 2025-26 – £45.7 million more than in 2024/25.
With the new formula, £143 million will be redirected for the wider good of the nation.
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This is a man & family worth hundreds of millions and he/they gets a pay rise where our nurses & doctors are told by Labour & Tories to effectively shut up and be grateful. We clapped for you. Isn’t that enough?
I think they should bring back that TV series Benefit Street. At homes (plural) with the Windsors. Where we follow this dysfunctional bed hopping family with numerous children who are forced to survive on a meagre £132 million per annum. Yes, the horror of it all. Obviously the two-child benefit cap doesn’t affect them.
#Republic 🏴 ✊#AbolishTheMonarchy ☣️
Devolution of the Crown Estates in Wales – now please, Labour.
Like this comment if you agree.
Labour? Tory-lite Unionists
It’s so comforting to know that the king does not go short. The pwr dab must be really struggling in these hard times. I am sure I saw him in a food bank last week. My God, when are we going to get our priorities right?
The Monarchy brings a net benefit to the UK economy of around £26 billion. Ditch it by all means, but you’ll have to find that money from somewhere else.
That might the case and this is often the argument thrown at people who want to abolish the monarchy. However, whenever I ask people the source of this net benefit figure, and how much of it is redistributed to Welsh/British communities they have not been able to answer with clarity. Ultimately it is up to central government how to spend this money and blame could be directed at them. However, based on the current state of many communities you could argue the ‘Windsor’ money has not really had a transformative impact or if it has it has been minimal. Finally,… Read more »
Duw, duw, there’s always one forelock tugger that defends the indefensible with the usual BS? You can’t use the excuse that the Monarchy makes money for Wales when Wales makes money for the Monarchy with the Crown Estate. And don’t forget. Both King Charles or Prince of Wales have no official residence in Wales as they do in England & Scotland with Clarence House & Palace of Holyrood. The Prince & Princess of Wales official residence is Kensington Palace in London, England not Llwynywermod cottage in Caerfyrddin, Wales. Fact! So please no lame excuses or BritNat bull**** how they make… Read more »
Yes, royal supporters would say that wouldn’t they!!! They’re liars. Just tell me how they benefit the economy by £26b. If they did actually make that money they would probably keep it for themselves…. guaranteed!! They don’t give anything back just take take take.
Beyond disgusting. It wouldn’t be such a blow if Wales was getting its rightful share from the Crown estates, but these are utterly appalling amounts of money.
Unfortunately the cap doffing, servile floor lickers seem to enjoy rather expensive and utterly pointless tradition.
Perhaps they need the money to hush up a few victims like last time.
Whether by ballot or bullet, the sooner the monarchy is abolished the better and the country can start the journey to become genuinely democratic!
The Monarchy’s vast wealth is an immoral, indefensible outrage. The Sovereign Grant, Crown Estate Profits, Duchies of Cornwall and Lancaster incomes and royal investments alone account for several hundred million pounds annually. Moreover the upkeep of the UK’s 23 lavish royal residences is a huge additional cost for the taxpayer. France has 23 former royal residences (Châteaus) with an entry fee for visitors. It probably gains more from these than Adrian’s highly questionable claim that the UK earns £26bn annually from the monarchy – and has no royalty to support.
This is perverse, absolutely blydy perverse, in a better world this could be construed as grand theft surely. When the rest of us are continuously told that the country can’t afford the basics in life to make lives better for the general public without more & more sacrifices to pay for it, this bunch of royal con artists have millions & millions simply thrown at them for doing virtually bugger all. I love the way the floor lickers are able to put royalty on an exalted pedestal akin to deities & in the very next breath class them as just… Read more »