In Queen Elizabeth II’s day, people would complain all the time about the cost of the monarchy and all of the low-ranking royals who all got to live in palace apartments on the taxpayers’ dime. But there was also a sense that the Windsors were a big, eccentric clan and there was something for everyone, even if you didn’t care much for the institution as a whole. Crash cut to September 2024, two years into King Charles’s reign, and it feels like the wheels have come off. Charles has cancer and he looks kind of awful. Camilla is simply evil. Prince William is too lazy to work and grow a beard at the same time. And god knows what’s going on with Kate. There are still random royals littered around, but it just feels like the monarchy is less relevant than ever and they’re not even providing much in the way of “service” to their people. Perfect moment for a huge salary bump, eh?
The cost of the grant that funds the monarchy is due to increase by more than 53% in the next year to £132m – a rise of £45m.
Official royal accounts released earlier this year revealed that huge profits of over £1bn from the crown estate mean the taxpayer-funded sovereign grant, which pays for the royal family’s official duties, will increase from £86.3m in 2024-25 to £132m in 2025-26.
Republic, an anti-monarchy organisation that campaigns for a British republic, has analysed the “true cost” of the royal family to the public and claimed that it now exceeds £500m a year.
Officials said the extra cash will be funnelled into the decade-long, £369m update to Buckingham Palace. Graham Smith, chief executive of Republic, said: “If [the chancellor] Rachel Reeves thinks tough decisions are needed in these difficult times, she needs to start with the royals. We’re being told the budget will be painful. Well, if that’s true, the cuts must start at the top. How can we talk about cutting the winter fuel allowance while wasting half a billion pounds on the royals?”
Republic claims the largest portion of the money, £150m, was spent on royal security and a further £96m in “lost revenue”, the report claims, as royal residences “occupied by the royal family cannot be used to their full potential by the state”.
I’m not going to pretend to understand what money is being spent on security, palace upkeep, staffing and more, but I agree with Republic that a lot of costs are being hidden because they’re not technically being taken out of the SG. The Sovereign Grant supposedly pays for Charles, Camilla and everyone other than the Prince and Princess of Wales. QEII made the SG “stretch” to support various cousins and distant relations, in addition to her other children’s lives, spouses, offices and staffs. But in KC3’s reign, he’s pinching pennies and pushing family members out of their homes and apartments. You know he’s cutting off a lot of funds from a lot of his family members. So the family has “retracted,” especially in visibility. Why isn’t the SG also retracting? I know why on a technical level – it’s because so much money is coming in from “royal land.” Not just rentals and farms, but wind farms have been massively profitable for the Crown. Instead of the government simply taking the windfall, they’re passing it on to Charles, to do with as he sees fit. It’s bizarre.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Buckingham Palace.