- Secret source of British royal family income revealed
- On royal lands, an almost medieval system
- Charles III and Prince William make millions from their principalities
Secret source of British royal family income revealed
The British royal family, including King Charles III of Windsor and Prince William, earns millions of pounds a year from real estate in the imperial Duchy of Lancaster and the Duchy of Cornwall, according to a joint investigation by The Sunday Times and Channel 4's Dispatches[1].
The newspaper and the TV channel refer to internal documents from both duchies. According to their calculations, the British royal family owns 5,410 plots of land in the two areas. Prince William and Charles III indirectly own the plots through their private holdings.
Charles III[b] (born 14 November 1948) is the King of the United Kingdom, the 14 Overseas Territories[c], and other Commonwealth countries. He is the eldest son of Elizabeth II and Prince Philip. Charles III has been heir to the throne since 1952 and became King of the United Kingdom on 8 September 2022. On 6 May 2023, Charles III was officially crowned.
According to the study, fees for the use and rental of the sites are collected from government departments, councils, companies, mining companies, and residents. These fees also flow into the accounts as feudal land taxes.
On royal lands, an almost medieval system
The material also shows that the royal family charges for the right to cross rivers, unload goods ashore, lay cables, run schools and charities, and even dig graves. According to The Sunday Times, it receives income from toll roads, ferries, sewers, churches, village halls, pubs, distilleries, gas pipelines, ship docks, open and underground mines, car parks, rented houses, and wind farms.
Fees are also charged to the army, navy, National Health Service, Prison Service, and state schools for using land, rivers, and the coast.
Charles III and Prince William make millions from their principalities
Charles III and Prince William act as commercial landowners, but they have a special arrangement with the Treasury that exempts them from paying corporation tax.
William, Prince of Wales (William Arthur Philip Louis; born 21 June 1982) is the eldest son of King Charles III and Princess Diana, and grandson of Elizabeth II and Prince Philip. He is first in line to the throne of the United Kingdom and the 15 Overseas Territories. From 9 September 2022 he is Prince of Wales.
Nevertheless, the King and the Prince pay, of their own free will, the highest income tax (45%) on money received in the Principalities. The last time Charles III published details of his taxes for 2021-2022, he reported paying income tax of £5.9 million. The latter was only 25 percent of the Duchy's £23 million profit because he deducted expenses he considered to be related to his official duties.
William stressed that he shares his father's approach, although no royal has disclosed the amount of tax he pays on his princely income from 2022 onwards. Charles III's predecessor, Queen Elizabeth II, the Governor of Lancaster, did not declare the amount of tax she paid.
A 2013 report by the Commons Public Accounts Committee, chaired by Labour's Baroness Margaret Hodge of Barking, called for a full Treasury inquiry into the Duchesses' business dealings to find out whether their special tax status gives them an unfair competitive advantage over other businesses. However, the recommendation went unheeded.
According to the publication's calculations, the Duchy of Lancaster and the Duchy of Cornwall generated a net profit of £26 million in 2023.
The Duchy of Lancaster and the Duchy of Cornwall extend beyond the counties that gave them their names and cover 180 000 acres in England and Wales, notes The Sunday Times. They are mainly made up of lands seized centuries ago by the English kings just after the Norman conquest of England in the 11th century, the paper points out.
According to the Sunday Times Rich List, Charles III's fortune amounts to £610 million.
