The King ordered staff in the palaces to turn the heating down as royal expenses soared to £107 million last year.
Guests, staff and the Royal Family were living with temperatures set at 19C in winter and a few degrees lower when rooms were empty, an official report reveals.
Charles has also urged the royal household to get behind a sustainability drive amid Britain’s cost of living crisis – even turning the heating off in the Buckingham Palace pool.
Last night, he and Camilla received a warm reception when they wore masks to the Animal Ball, at Lancaster House, in Central London. The event marks the 20th anniversary of wildlife charity Elephant Family, established by Camilla’s late brother Mark Shand.
The Sovereign Grant Report, which is published today, shows that expenses for the Royal Family, funded by taxpayers, rose by 5% on last year and broke £100m for the second time in history. The Sovereign Grant for 2022/23 amounted to £86.3m, the same as the previous year.
But more than £20m also needed to be taken from the Government’s reserve funds to meet the royals’ costs.
In 2021/22, total expenses were £102m. Since becoming monarch, Palace aides say the King has overseen a “period of significant transition”. The core amount spent on travel, property maintenance and operational costs added up to just under £52m.
A further grant to refit Buckingham Palace, spread over 10 years, was £34.5m. Changes in households and personnel, added to contributions to the late Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations and funeral, led to royal budgets increasing by £5million. The Sovereign Grant, which funds the monarch’s official duties, is calculated based on a percentage of the profits of the revenue of the monarch-owned Crown Estate.
Separate figures yesterday showed that those profits rocketed to £442.6m last year, a rise of nearly £130m on the previous year thanks to windfall fees from wind farms.
Publishing the report, Sir Michael Stevens, who is in charge of royal finances, said His Majesty is keen to give more back.
He said: “The King has strongly requested that the revenues are passed on for the wide public good.”
However, the King faces criticism for not doing enough to recruit ethnic minorities to the royal household, missing the internal target of 10% a third year running.
Meanwhile, Prince William’s Duchy of Cornwall received income of £24m, and will give more than £6m back to the Duchy team.
The report covers the 12 months up to the end of March. Sir Michael said the year – from the Platinum Jubilee, to the Queen’s death and coronation of Charles – was one “of grief, change and celebration”.
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