For the first time, the personal income tax paid by members of the Royal Family has been made public.
Documents show King Charles III paid £12.9 million ($AU24.6million) in income tax in 2024-25. Media has also reported Prince William paid £7.76 million ($14.85m) last financial year.
The King is one of the top 100 highest taxpayers in the UK.
Where does the Royal Family actually get their money from?
Income
- King Charles’ primary funding source is the ‘Sovereign Grant’, which taxpayers pay to the monarchy via the UK Treasury.
- Then there’s the ‘Privy Purse’, mainly made up of income generated by the Duchy of Lancaster – a land portfolio allocated to the King.
- Finally, the King’s personal wealth. For example, the Balmoral and Sandringham estates, inherited from Queen Elizabeth II. This doesn’t include Royal residences, art collections, or Crown Jewels.
The Sovereign Grant is calculated based on a percentage of profitsfrom the Crown Estate from the past two financial years.
The Crown Estate is land or assets held by the Royals, which they cannot sell.
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A key Crown Estate investment is in offshore wind farms.
In the 2025-26 financial year, the Crown generated £1.2b ($2b) in profit, largely through its 36 offshore wind farms.
This year the Sovereign Grant was £132 million ($250 million).
Another key element in the Crown’s structure is property. While the reigning monarch “holds” properties like Buckingham Palace, they cannot sell them.
This week, King Charles and Queen Camilla announced they would not live in Buckingham Palace when its 10-year, £369m ($AU706m) renovations finish next year.
It is the first time since it was built that the reigning monarch hasn’t lived at the Palace.
Tax
The report also included the amount of personal income tax Charles paid in the previous two financial years.
