King Charles III, seen attending a reception in London on Wednesday, is the first British monarch to disclose his personal tax bill, which has exceeded £30-million since his ascension to the throne.YUI MOK/AFP/Getty Images
Paying income taxes is a burden we all share − even King Charles III, who has voluntarily paid almost $60-million since acceding to the throne nearly four years ago, royal officials announced Thursday. No further details were provided, but it marks the first time a monarch’s personal tax bill has been disclosed.
The King is not required to pay taxes, but Charles has followed the example of his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, who began paying on a voluntary basis in 1993, though the amount was never revealed.
On Thursday, royal officials released a series of financial reports and said the King has handed over more than £30-million to Britain’s tax authority since he became monarch upon the death of the Queen on Sept. 8, 2022.
According to officials, the King paid £11.7-million in the 2023-24 tax year and £12.9-million in 2024-25. The remainder was paid in 2022.
The Royal Family has been under growing pressure in recent months to provide more information about its financial affairs in the wake of the scandal surrounding the King’s brother Andrew Mountbatten Windsor.
The former Prince Andrew is under police investigation over his ties to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, who died by suicide in 2019 while awaiting trial in New York. A recent report from Britain’s National Audit Office raised questions about the property arrangements for Mr. Mountbatten Windsor and other royals, prompting an inquiry by a parliamentary committee.
Prince William also announced Thursday that he has paid £20-million in income taxes since succeeding his father as Prince of Wales.
William paid £7.8-million in 2024-25, £8.3-million the previous tax year and the rest in 2022. “We will continue to provide information about these arrangements following the completion of each audited financial year,” royal officials said in a statement.
Read the full transcript of King Charles’ U.S. Congress address in April
The King and Prince William have several sources of income.
The King receives a Sovereign Grant from the government every year to cover the cost of running the Royal Household. Last year the grant totalled £132.1-million and it is scheduled to rise to £137.9-million this year.
It is derived from income earned by the Crown Estates, a £16-billion real estate portfolio that includes properties in central London, as well as farmland and much of Britain’s coastal seabed.
The assets of the Crown Estates are technically held by the monarch but, under an arrangement struck in 1760, King George III surrendered all of the income generated by the portfolio to the government in return for an annual stipend. That agreement has been codified into law, and the Crown Estates portfolio reports around £1-billion in profit every year.
In recent years, nearly half of the Sovereign Grant has gone toward a £369-million renovation project at Buckingham Palace. The 10-year project is slated to end next year, and once it’s done the King and Queen will no longer live in the palace. Royal officials have said the couple prefer that it remain “the ceremonial centre of Royal life” and the main workplace for the 500-strong royal staff.
The King receives additional money from the Duchy of Lancaster, a real estate portfolio set up in 1399 to benefit the monarch. It currently holds around £800-million worth of farmland and properties and last year generated £27-million for the King.
The Duchy pays no taxes, but the King voluntarily pays taxes on his income.
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Prince William receives money from a similar real estate portfolio called the Duchy of Cornwall. It dates back to 1337 and was established to provide a source of revenue for the Prince of Wales.
It has £1.3-billion worth of holdings consisting of farmland as well as dozens of residential and commercial properties. It generates an annual surplus of roughly £20-million, which goes to the Prince.
The Duchy has run into controversy recently over its ownership of the land used for the Dartmoor prison in Devon. The 200-year-old building has been empty for nearly two years because of high levels of radon gas, which can cause lung cancer.
The government signed a new lease for Dartmoor in 2022, which is locked in until 2033, leaving the Ministry of Justice on the hook for £1.5-million in annual rent to the Duchy. Several reports have questioned how much the government and the Duchy knew about the contamination.
On Thursday, Prince William said the rental income will be deducted from the surplus he receives and invested in communities around the prison. “This decision reflects the Duke’s belief that the Duchy should be a force for positive impact in the communities it serves,” royal officials said in a statement.
The anti-monarchy group Republic has questioned the tax disclosures and called for more details.
“The palace are keen to spin this as Charles being a huge contributor to the public purse. But it raises questions about his huge income and unique tax privileges,” said Graham Smith, a spokesman for the group. “A figure for tax tells the public very little if there isn’t corresponding detail on his income.”