Reduced public funding for King Charles III and the royal family

Public funding for Britain's King Charles III and the royal family's official duties has been reduced for next year due to unexpected profits from offshore wind farms belonging to the Crown Estate, the Ministry of Finance announced today.

The ministry says that the share of profits from the royal estate paid to the royal family will have to be halved from the 25 percent given in previous years to 12 percent next year.

Charles and the royal family receive an annual so-called "Sovereign's Grant" from the Treasury, based on a share of the profits from the Royal Estate, a range of land plots, farms and other properties across the UK.

The royal estate is an independent company with commercial assets worth around £16 billion (almost $20 billion) and includes some of London's most expensive properties.

The royal estate also manages the coasts and seabed around Britain, and an agreement to lease offshore wind farms, reached this year, has generated profits estimated at 1,3 billion pounds ($XNUMX billion) a year.

Charles requested that the profits be used for the "broader public good" rather than to finance his official duties.

The amount of the "Sovereign Grant" this year is 86,3 million pounds ($109 million), the same as last year.

The finance ministry said the upcoming cut in the share given to the royal family to 12 percent means the monarchy's budget will remain the same next year because it will not receive the extra 24 million pounds ($30 million) it would have received if the share had remained unchanged at 25 percent.

Then in 2025 and 2026, the royal family's budget will be 130 million pounds ($167 million), which is less than if the share percentage remained unchanged.

"These funds will be used for vital public services, for the benefit of the nation," the Ministry of Finance said in a statement.

Charles is known for championing "green energy", but he also talks about the cost of living crisis and the pressures facing millions of his subjects. Cutting his share of the profits from wind farm contracts would help him mitigate criticism that the royal family does not know how British society lives.

Under the United Kingdom's system of constitutional monarchy, the kings and queens hand over to the government the profits from the crown estates, which are not the private property of the monarch, but are hereditary assets that belong to the sovereign only during the reign. The Ministry of Finance provides part of this profit in the form of a "Sovereign's Grant" to support royal duties.

Charles and his son, Prince William, also have private income from the royal estates - the Duchies of Lancaster and Cornwall.