How much does the crown cost? The “Guardian” attacks the Royals with financial investigation

Times couldn’t be worse for King Charles: Exactly one month before the coronation on May 6 and a few days after a convincingly completed state visit to Germany, the “Guardian” struck. Under the title “Cost of the crown”, 15 investigative journalists have examined what the royals keep secret from the public when it comes to finances, how they have lobbied parliament for their own use and how they have changed laws in their favor at will.

Over the past few weeks, the Guardian team has asked the Palace countless questions, with the answers being: “Ask someone else your question”, “See for yourself” or simply, “It’s none of your business.” Of course, the answers that were not given are everyone’s business. Because the monarchy currently receives 86 million pounds (97 million francs) from the income of the Crown Estate, the organization that manages castles, crown jewels, lands, waters, entire London streets, etc. By comparison, the Spanish Monarchy costs just £4.7 million.

However, on the revenue side of the Royals, there are also private millions from the Duchy of Cornwall and the Duchy of Lancaster. In 2022 alone, that was more than £40m in profits, and £1.2bn since the Queen took office, according to the Guardian. The Duchy of Lancaster always goes straight from one crowned head to another. The Duchy of Cornwall from the eldest male prince to the next. Accordingly, Prince William currently has an additional income of £20 million a year.

It is often said to the outside world that the duchies earn their living from sustainable, progressive agriculture and promote idyllic farms. But they only became really profitable with offshore investments and the acquisition and management of urban real estate and luxury holiday homes. The Duchy of Cornwall alone is worth over a billion pounds thanks to its smart portfolio. Prince William became one of Britain’s largest landowners and billionaire overnight last year.

The British Parliament has wanted to nationalize the duchies’ revenues from its inception. The royals insist these have been “private” since medieval times. The Queen and Charles managed to increase the revenues of the duchies tenfold. The Queen and Charles voluntarily decided in 1993 to finally pay taxes on their duchies’ profits, but Charles cut his in half after marrying Diana because, he said, having a family would significantly increase his expenses.

It was a farce that from 1993 Charles started paying rent on his property at Highgrove House, eventually paying the rent to his own company. Now he pays it to his son. Everything always stays in the family. And the Queen supported her son Andrew with £9 million in the trial of Virginia Guiffre from the Lancaster treasury, according to the Guardian.

Also spicy: since 1911, royal wills no longer have to be made accessible to the public. Queen Mary demanded this at the time, her brother’s will was clearly too embarrassing for her, she was granted it. And in 2021, with the death of Prince Philip, it was spontaneously decided that this would continue for “at least 90 years”. The fortune of the deceased must have been so obscenely high that the public can hardly bear it.

And so on. The multi-part part of the “Guardian” reads like a financial thriller spanning several centuries and the most diverse complexes. The colonial history of the Commonwealth and the royal family’s involvement in the slave trade are (again) highlighted – after all, the palace has already reported that Charles III. would like to have the slavery history in his country thoroughly investigated. Kensington Palace, the residence of William and Kate, is the center of attention here; its construction was once made possible by a donation from the prominent slave trader Edward Colston.

The “Guardian” always publishes new sub-research, it must also be recorded exactly how much (in some cases nothing at all) the individual royals work for their money. Or as Guardian columnist Polly Toynbee points out, “For something so hollow, the royal family is astonishingly expensive.” It should upset the Windsors even more than “The Crown”.