King Charles reports £12.9 million tax payment for 2024-25
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The monarch disclosed a £12.9 million tax bill for 2024-25, making him the first British sovereign to publish his tax contributions and placing him among the nation’s top 100 taxpayers.
King Charles has disclosed that he paid £12.9 million in tax for the 2024-25 fiscal year, becoming the first British monarch to make his tax contributions public. The amount places the king within the top 100 individual taxpayers in the United Kingdom.
The royal accounts also show that the king paid £11.7 million in tax for 2023-24, while Prince William paid £8.34 million for the same period. Both men said the decision to release the figures was voluntary and intended to increase transparency.
"Buckingham Palace described the move as increasing transparency and aimed to 'encourage wider understanding of our accountability.'"
"Prince William pays income tax at the highest rate on any net surplus after those costs have been met. Those costs are independently audited to ensure that any deductions are appropriate," said his private secretary Ian Patrick.
The king’s income derives primarily from the Duchy of Lancaster, which generated £25.2 million in 2025-26. Additional taxable income includes private investments and revenues from the Balmoral and Sandringham estates. Prince William receives his income from the Duchy of Cornwall, a billion-pound hereditary estate that also includes the Oval cricket ground.
The royal household’s public funding, the Sovereign Grant, is set to rise to just under £100 million for 2027-28, up from £51.8 million three years earlier. The increase, approved by the Royal Trustees, will fund building maintenance, cybersecurity upgrades and a transition to green energy, including £11 million earmarked for boiler replacements at Windsor Castle.
"Expenditure is governed by the same standards and disciplines as any publicly funded body, with strict value-for-money requirements, detailed planning, multi-year strategies, independent audit, and Treasury oversight," said James Chalmers, the king’s keeper of the Privy Purse.
The king and Queen Camilla will remain at Clarence House rather than moving into Buckingham Palace, a decision intended to allow greater public access to the palace while extensive refurbishments are completed. Historians note that the disclosure of the tax bill responds to growing calls for accountability within the monarchy.