THE monarchy has been accused of “corruption” and “abuse of public funds” following the release of its latest financial reports.
The reports confirmed on Wednesday the royal family’s income is to receive a boost of more than £45 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 £86.3m in 2024/2025 to £132m in 2025/2026.
Officials said the increase will be used to help fund the final stages of the 10-year £369m renovation of Buckingham Palace.
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Campaign group Republic have said the Sovereign Grant is rocketing up at an “astronomical” rate but is only a small part of the “appalling” cost of the monarchy.
Republic say the royals are estimated to cost UK taxpayers more than £345m a year.
The organisation’s chief executive Graham Smith said: “Add the profits of the two Duchies, which are state assets, the bloated security bill and costs met by local councils around the country and the total bill is huge.
“People rightly complain about the cost of the Rwanda scheme over the last two and a half years, yet we have spent more over the same period on the royals. More than £345m a year to provide us with just one head of state.
“By comparison the Irish president costs around four million euros, a fraction of the cost for someone doing a similar job, but someone elected and accountable to do it.
“We do not owe the royals a living, we do not owe them palatial homes, private helicopter travel or lives of leisure and luxury. They abuse the taxpayer's trust day in, day out, taking our money to spend on their own private lifestyles."
According to an article in The Guardian last year, King Charles and the late Queen Elizabeth received payments equivalent to more than £1bn from the Duchies of Lancaster and Cornwall, which are giant portfolios of land and property. The debate about whether this money should go to the public is centuries-old.
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They operate as professionally-run real estate empires that manage swathes of farmland, hotels, medieval castles, offices, shops and some of London’s prime luxury real estate. They also have substantial investment portfolios, but pay no corporation tax or capital gains tax.
The financial reports on Wednesday cover the first full financial year of the King’s reign.
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 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.
The Sovereign Grant is funded by the taxpayer in exchange for the King’s surrender of the revenue from the Crown Estate.
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 £275m instead in 2025/26.
Despite the percentage reduction, Crown Estate financial figures published on Wednesday showed the profits in 2023-24 were £1.1bn, meaning the Sovereign Grant – based on funds two years in arrears – will be £132m in 2025-26 – £45.7m more than in 2024/25.
The boost will be reviewed through legislation in 2026/27 to keep funding of the royal family at a “more appropriate” level, a Palace spokesperson said.
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