King Charles faces increasing pressure as the £138m Sovereign Grant heads to the Royal Family this year, with calls for radical reform over the rising cost of royal upkeep.
The Chancellor, Rachel Reeves, is being urged to reconsider the grant, which has risen almost £50 million in three years, largely to fund £369 million in renovations to Buckingham Palace over a decade.
While anti-corruption campaigners are demanding greater transparency after Keir Starmer’s tsar criticized past royal earnings as “exorbitant” charity rents.
Baroness Margaret Hodge, the government’s anti-corruption campaigner, pointed to the Andrew scandal as a turning point, warning that opaque private income could weaken the monarchy at a delicate time.
Former Labor Minister Lord George Foulkes echoed the call for reform, pointing to Queen Camilla’s helicopter ride to a race day as evidence that the royals appear increasingly out of touch as Britons struggle with the pressures of the cost of living, homelessness and poverty.
“There really needs to be a more radical review than in the past,” he said.
The Treasury confirmed that the Sovereign Grant is under a five-year review, but there are no plans to scrap it entirely.
Introduced by then Chancellor George Osborne in 2011, it funds the King’s official functions, including staff salaries, travel and palace maintenance.
Last year, £41.2m was spent on property maintenance, £4.7m on travel and £475,000 on 141 helicopter flights, including £80,000 on charter flights and through Northern Ireland.
MPs are also investigating the Crown Estate amid scrutiny of Andrew’s use of Royal Lodge and whether other properties offer fair value to taxpayers.
Meanwhile, the king and Prince William continue to draw private income from the duchies of Lancaster and Cornwall, as well as inherited wealth and investments.
Over 70 years, these properties have generated approximately £1.2 billion for the royals.
Property sales in the Duchy of Cornwall increased from £3.3m a year (2010-2020) to £11m a year in the following four years, although they remain exempt from capital gains tax.
