Some of the funds will go to the final stages of a 10-year, $475 million “reservicing” of Buckingham Palace, a project now in its eighth year.
LONDON — King Charles III's monarchy is set to receive a pay rise of more than 45 million pounds ($60 million), with a 53% jump in its official annual income, accounts show, as Britain grapples with a spiraling cost of living crisis.
The Sovereign Grant, the mechanism used to fund royal spending, will rise from over 86 million pounds ($110 million) in 2024-25 to around 132 million pounds ($170 million) in 2025-26, because of a surge in profits from the Crown Estate, a vast collection of land and property across the U.K.
Funded by the taxpayer, the Sovereign Grant is used to support the official duties of the monarch and other costs such as official travel, thousands of engagements, staff for working royals and the maintenance of occupied palaces.
It is based on a proportion of profits from the Crown Estate, which is independently run and has assets worth billions of pounds, including some of London’s most expensive real estate.
A separate report from the Crown Estate on Wednesday showed that it had generated profits of 1.1 billion pounds, or $1.4 billion.
The Sovereign Grant is funded by the taxpayer in exchange for the king’s surrender of the revenue from the Crown Estate. The royal household had been receiving 25% of the Crown Estate’s profits until it was agreed last year that the funding would be cut to 12%.
But it will still receive a significant boost in funding for 2025-26, largely due to Crown Estate profits. The report said it had seen a “year of record results driven by decades of investment in offshore wind, combined with a diverse and resilient property and land portfolio.”
Part of the funding increase will help finance the final stages of a 10-year, 369 million pound ($475 million) “reservicing” of Buckingham Palace, a project that is now in its eighth year, said the annual report about the Sovereign Grant, published Tuesday.