The King ordered staff in the royal palaces to turn the heating down to save cash, despite the royals receiving £107million from taxpayers last year.
Guests, staff and the Royal Family were living with temperatures set at 19C during the 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.
The Sovereign Grant Report, published today, shows 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, following the death of his mother Queen Elizabeth II last September, Palace aides say the King has overseen a “period of significant transition”.
The core amount spent on official 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, keeper of the privy purse and 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.” Prince William has also stepped up to take the reins of the Duchy of Cornwall, which received income of £24m – half of which he will give back to the Duchy team,
He is also working alongside the Princess of Wales to develop their Royal Foundation charity projects.
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.
The report covers the 12 months up to the end of March.
Sir Michael said the year – from last summer’s Platinum Jubilee, to the Queen’s death and coronation of King Charles – had been one “of grief, change and celebration”.
FROGMORE
Prince Harry and wife Meghan have given back the keys to Frogmore Cottage, above, despite paying £2.4million for renovations.
The King evicted the pair from their Windsor home earlier this year.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex quit their royal roles in March 2020.
The couple, who now live in Montecito, California, had planned to use Frogmore as their UK base.
But after a series of outspoken interviews and Harry’s explosive memoir, his relationship with the family is at rock bottom.
Harry flew in from the US to see his father crowned in May, but is believed to have had no further direct contact with him or brother, Prince William.
Buckingham Palace has refused to confirm what will be done with the four-bed cottage, amid speculation that the King will force Prince Andrew from his 30 room Royal Lodge home and make him move into Frogmore.
£24m DUCHY
Prince William takes over £24million Duchy of Cornwall and gives back 50% of his windfall.
On King Charles’V accession, William became Prince of Wales and the 25th Duke of Cornwall, and responsible for the Duchy.
Profits last year rose £1million to £24million - which was split between Charles and William, a£11.275mm due to His Majesty, and £12.773m due to Prince William.
However, William decided to give half back to the Duchy Team to work on ongoing projects.
NET ZERO
Aa a committed environmentalist, the King has set out a plan to achieve Net Zero across the royal households.
This has already led to a 19% decrease in natural gas and heating emissions and the royal fleet of vehicles complying with London’s ultra low emission zone.
As well as turning down the heating to 19 degrees during the winter months, and asking staff to turn down vacant rooms to 16 degrees, the Buckingham Palace refit will make the historic building a world leader in sustainable energy.
Historic gas lamps have also been switched off, ready to be fitted with electrical replacements.
A 43% decrease in royal tours and other travel has added to savings.
DIVERSITY
Amid racism allegations from Prince Harry’s wife, Meghan Markle, the palace enlisted the help of external companies to create a new
Inclusion and Diversity strategy.
For the third year in a row Buckingham Palace failed to meet its target of having 10% of staff from ethnic backgrounds, but insisted it was “wholly committed” to achieving the figure. All staff were invited to take in person and online courses, also made available to members of the royal family.
In the UK, around 18% of people belong to a black, Asian, mixed or other ethnic group, according to the 2021 Census data.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex told Oprah Winfrey in their 2021 interview that there had been discussions where “concerns” were raised about “how dark” their then unborn son Archie’s skin might be.
The palace yesterday announced a new ambitious target of 14% of staff from ethnic backgrounds for next year. Meanwhile, William and Kate are leading the way in the gender and ethnicity balance – with 64% female and 36% male working at Kensington Palace.
TRAVEL EXPENSES
The Royal Family spent more than £1million on helicopter trips and an eye watering £125,000 on four outings for the royal train.
But overall spending on travel was down £600,000 to £3.9 million.
Palace aides had suggested that with the passing of the late Queen, the royal train might be put into retirement – but the King has decided to carry on using it until a full review is completed this year.
Queen Elizabeth’s death and the transition period for Charles becoming monarch reduced the royal family’s travel expenses.
However a trip to Rwanda by Charles and Camilla, pictured, before her death cost £187,000, while their Majesties’ first state visit to Germany in March left the taxpayer with a £146,000 bill.
William and Kate’s three-day trip to Boston in the United States to highlight his Earthshot environmental project cost £48,000.
JUBILEE/FUNERAL
Platinum Jubilee costs were £700,000 last year on top of £300,000 from the year before.
The late Queen’s funeral cost a combined £3.2million from the royal finances over the last two years, £1.6m each year.
Payroll costs saw one of the biggest annual increases of any expenditure during 2022-23, rising £3.4m to £27.1m, with staff given a pay rise of about 5%-6%.
Housekeeping and hospitality costs were up from £1.3m to £2.4m although property maintenance fell by £6.1m to £57.8m
Staffing costs increased during a year where Buckingham Palace received 183,207 pieces of correspondence, including 115,244 items in the seven months since the passing of Queen Elizabeth II.
'Fear not. Charles is saving some pennies by turning down the heating in the staff quarters', writes NORMAN BAKER
So royal expenditure in Charles’s promised slimmed-down monarchy has risen by 5% to £107.5million.
Meanwhile we are told there is no money to give our nurses, doctors and teachers a decent pay rise.
The royals argue that a great deal is being spent on a gold standard refit for Buckingham Palace – and so it is. At a cost of £359m. Yet the millions that come in each year from ticket sales to look round the place are regarded as “private income”. A royal mint.
But fear not. Charles is saving some pennies by turning down the heating in the staff quarters at Buckingham Palace.
I’m sure the flunkeys won’t mind as they huddle into winter blankets. The truth is our monarchy is rolling it and we pay through the nose.
* Norman Baker is author of And What Do You Do?
