CAMPAIGNERS have raised serious concerns about royal finances as the palace publishes its latest figures – despite efforts by King Charles to present himself as one of Britain’s biggest taxpayers.
Charles has taken the step of publishing his payments to HM Revenue and Customs in a bid to "aid clarity and accessibility" around royal finances.
The Prince of Wales initially resisted releasing his own tax payments when he became heir to the throne and took on the Duchy of Cornwall, but has released his financial data as a string of royal reports were published.
Since Charles became King following the death of Queen Elizabeth in September 2022 he has paid more than £30 million in tax, while William has made payments of more than £20 million in tax since becoming the Prince of Wales.
New reports also show the sovereign grant will rise again in 2026 by around £5 million, taking it to £100m – a 222.5% increase on the grant over fifteen years, up from £31m in 2012.
Republic argues that even this headline figure understates the true cost, with “swathes of extra costs” pushing the annual bill to well over half a billion pounds once security, lost revenues from Duchy estates and major refurbishments such as Buckingham Palace are included.
The group highlights that the huge rise in the grant sits alongside a 12% increase per head for primary schools, a 3% fall per head for secondary schools and annual defence growth of just 3.8%, in a decade and a half marked by austerity, Covid and the cost of living crisis. Wage growth, they note, is below 1%.
Republic has also challenged Charles to declare his full income and set out exactly how his tax is calculated.
Chief executive Graham Smith said: “Another hike for Charles, more spin and gloss and more misdirection on taxes. This is the way with royal reporting, the more they reveal the more questions are raised.
"If Charles doesn’t say what his income is, we have no idea if he is paying the top rate of tax, as he should be. The report talks about Charles’s total tax bill, but is it including VAT, as they have done in previous years?”
James Chalmers, Keeper of the Privy Purse, said: “When Prince of Wales, His Majesty disclosed his tax, and he has asked that we make public his combined income and capital gains tax payments as king.
"Today I can share with you that His Majesty’s tax payable for 2024-25 was £12.9 million. If annual media league tables are to be believed on such matters, that places His Majesty among the top 100 taxpayers in the country for that year.
"I can also share with you that His Majesty’s tax payable for 2023-24 was £11.7 million and the total amount of tax payable by His Majesty since accession to the throne is more than £30 million – all of this, remember, on a voluntary basis.”
However, Republic says these claims raise more questions than they answer.
The King’s private income streams include investments, trading profits, private estates such as Balmoral and Sandringham, and the Duchy of Lancaster, which provided him with £25.2m in 2025‑26 as an “independent source of income” traditionally known as the Privy Purse.
Charles voluntarily pays income tax on his private income, capital gains tax on relevant assets, and inheritance tax under arrangements first agreed by the late Queen in 1993.
Republic argues that this “voluntary” model is precisely the problem, leaving it “impossible to judge if he is paying the correct rate of tax”.
Smith said: “The royals continue to ignore other huge costs, including the loss of assets and profits from the Duchies, which means the bill for the taxpayer is well over half a billion pounds. Despite ongoing concerns about the huge cost of the royals, the grant will remain hugely inflated on its initial level of £31m in 2012.
"If that had risen by inflation the grant would stand at £45m, not £100m.”
The campaign group also points to the £369m publicly funded refurbishment of Buckingham Palace, arguing that “the government agreed to spent £369m on refurbishing Buckingham Palace, and now Charles doesn’t want to use it".
The King and Queen will not live at Buckingham Palace once almost £370 million of refurbishment work to make the landmark fit for purpose has been completed.
"But he’ll keep it under lock and key for when he does. Clearly the palace needs to be fully open to the public all year round," Smith said, concluding: “Royal finances are out of control, and parliament needs to act to slash the annual budget to below £10m.”
