Here are some photos from Thursday, where King Charles and Queen Camilla made a visit to Bradford, England. It was a pretty typical “away day,” full of walkabouts, handshakes, awkward hugs and Charles observing tables full of food (one of his favorite activities). There were several moments where photographers caught Charles looking like he was mid-curse, which is always a treat. Meanwhile, let’s talk about money. Several days ago, the BBC reported something we already knew in general terms, which is that the “Sovereign Grant” has risen steeply in the past 13 years.
Public funding for the Royal Household has tripled in real terms since 2012, official figures show, with the rise driven largely by repairs and building work at Buckingham Palace.
The Sovereign Grant, which provides state funding for the monarchy, was introduced in 2012 at £31m per year. That has now risen to £132m, data from the House of Commons Library shows, and once inflation has been taken into account, that represents about a threefold increase.
The grant rose 53% in April, from £86.3m to £132.1m. Royal aides say this was because of a Buckingham Palace building project and the grant will come down again, adding that the monarchy represents good value.
Lord Turnbull, a crossbench peer and a former Cabinet Secretary, called the way the grant was calculated, using a calculation based on Crown Estate profits, was “complete and utter nonsense” but said that the budget isn’t high compared with other presidential heads of state.
“The budget isn’t high compared with other presidential heads of state.” A few things – presidential heads of state are elected, it’s not a hereditary position. And the cost of a presidency includes salaries for federal officials working for the executive on matters of law and policy. King Charles supports a staff which mostly works in PR to hype the monarchy as “good value” in between briefing sh-t about royal scapegoats. The Sovereign Grant also supports the left-behind Windsors who barely garner any attention or provide any benefit to the public. On the heels of this news about the Sovereign Grant, it looks like Charles’s personal wealth has also grown by leaps and bounds in the past year.
The King’s personal wealth has gone up by £30million to £640million in the past year – making him twice as rich as his late mother Queen Elizabeth II. The monarch, 76, who acceded to the throne in 2022, ranks joint 238th in the list of the UK’s 350 wealthiest people and families, up 20 places from 258th in 2024, according to The Sunday Times Rich List.
The monarch is £140million richer than David and Victoria Beckham, who are said to be worth £500 million, with former England captain Beckham being Britain’s richest sports star. The late Queen’s wealth was said to be £370 million in 2022, with Charles now estimated to be worth £270 million more than his mother, rising from £610 million to £640million in 2025.
The current sovereign Charles III was the longest serving Prince of Wales in history, between 1958 and 2022. As the Prince of Wales, Charles received a private income of up to £23million a year from the Duchy of Cornwall estate, now inherited by Prince William.
The 76-year-old monarch, who has faced a challenging past year as he continues to undergo treatment for cancer, has benefited from the investment portfolio he inherited from his late mother for the bulk of his wealth, the newspaper said. His private estates Sandringham in Norfolk and Balmoral in Aberdeenshire, which belonged to the Queen, are part of his financial fortune. Only personal assets are included by The Sunday Times when assessing the sovereign’s wealth.
This does not include the Crown Estate, which saw soaring profits thanks to wind farm deals, the Duchy of Lancaster estate, nor the Crown Jewels which are held in trust by the King for the nation.
£640 million… not including the Crown Estate, Duchy of Lancaster, Crown Jewels OR all of the Royal Collection jewels and art, correct? Charles really made a Faustian bargain – he’s finally king (in his 70s) and all of it is finally HIS and he’s in charge and he has all of the palaces and castles… and he’s still miserable. His heir is still bleating constantly about how Charles will be gone soon. He’s still a terrible father.
Photos courtesy of Cover Images, Avalon Red.
