A new report has uncovered the net worth of King Charles and as expected, it’s pretty fucked up.
The Times analysed the British monarchs various income streams in its Sunday Times Rich List and estimated old mate Charles is worth a whopping £600 million, which is about $1.1 billion AUD.
A former aide told The Times that Charles had managed to amass a significant amount of dosh over the years, after becoming meticulous with his savings following his costly 1996 divorce from the people’s princess Diana, Princess of Wales – where he paid her a $31 million lump sum and $740,000 annual salary.
“He became prudent at tucking away some money from the Duchy [of Cornwall] after that wipe-out [of capital],” the source told the publication. The aforementioned duchy – a royal estate – is where a large portion of Charles’ earnings comes from. There are two duchies in the UK – the Duchy of Lancaster and the Duchy of Cornwall – both property empires which primarily invest in land.
Traditionally, the heir to the throne inherits the Duchy of Cornwall, with William, Prince of Wales, now in charge of overseeing it after Charles became King last year.
Meanwhile, the Duchy of Lancaster sits in the hands of the reigning monarch, AKA Charles, who inherited it from his mother after her death in September last year.
The Duchy of Cornwall is estimated to be worth $1.8 billion which is a cooked amount of money in and of itself.During his time overseeing the Duchy of Cornwall, Charles increased its annual profits by 42.6 per cent to $47 million between 2011 and 2022.
Within that time period, Charles made $393.6 million from the duchy. That income is not liable to tax payments (classic), though Charles has voluntarily opted to pay income tax since 1993 and as he fkn should.
According to The Times, much of this revenue comes from “renting commercial properties” in other areas of the UK and something about Charles screams slimy landlord.
The Duchy of Lancaster has $1.2 billion of net assets which is far too much in my opinion.
Royals in charge of overseeing the duchies are not allowed to sell the assets – because they technically don’t have outright ownership over the land – but they can pocket the annual revenue which is still a shitload of cash.
Royal finances, particularly the duchies, are a pretty massive grey area for the Royals. The palace is not required to be transparent about how the earnings from the duchies are spent, given they are “private” estates which makes me think they’re not spending the money wisely.
But there has often been debate over who should be entitled to the revenue – the palace or the British people. Spoiler alert: it’s probs not the palace.
Elsewhere, Sandringham and Balmoral are also two of Charles’ lucrative income streams.The Times estimated a value of $453 million for Sandringham, which also generates tourist money, and $388 million total for Balmoral castle and its estate.
With all this cash passing through Charles’ sausage fingers I am once again asking, when can we eat the rich?
