King Charles made headlines by announcing he paid £12.9 million (over $24.6 million) in taxes last year. This is a groundbreaking move as it’s the first time a reigning monarch has openly shared personal tax contributions.
This significant tax bill ranks King Charles among the top 100 taxpayers in the UK for the 2024-2025 period, according to local media outlets.
While the king is not obligated to pay taxes, his late mother, Queen Elizabeth, set a precedent by starting to pay taxes voluntarily back in 1993.
Buckingham Palace has labeled this unprecedented disclosure a step towards greater “transparency.” Despite this effort, royal finances remain enigmatic, as the recent revelation lacks details about how the tax figures were determined, keeping much of the financial picture obscured.
There has been growing scrutiny surrounding royal finances, highlighted by a recent watchdog investigation into property dealings related to King Charles’s brother, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor.
Palace officials said the amount of tax payable by Charles since he became king in 2022 exceeded £30 million ($57 million).
That includes more than £11.7 million ($22 million) of tax paid from 2023-2024.
The figure for the year following Queen Elizabeth’s death in September 2022 was not provided. Tax years in Britain run from early April.
Charles had previously disclosed the amount of tax he paid prior to becoming monarch.
In a similar move, Charles’ eldest son, Prince William, also released his personal tax information. The royal report detailed that William paid more than £7.7 million ($14.75 million) in income and capital gain taxes in 2024-2025. The year prior, he paid £8.3 million ($15.9 million), according to his office.
Where does the king get his money?
The British monarchy is funded through both public and private sources.
That includes the Sovereign Grant, which provides official public funding for the monarchy and the Privy Purse, which supplies Charles’ income through revenue generated by the Duchy of Lancaster estate.
In 2025-2026, funding for the Sovereign Grant increased to £132.1 million (more than $253 million).
Charles receives personal income from land, private estates and investments on top of that figure, which he receives from the government to support royal duties.
Charles’ private sources of income include his Balmoral and Sandringham estates as well as art, jewellery, stamp collections, investments and private savings.
In a palace statement published on Thursday, James Chalmers, the Charles’ treasurer and keeper of the privy purse, said: “While Royal finances can sometimes appear complex, the underlying system is clear in principle, structured in law and refined over time to ensure the Monarch can serve with independence, accountability and in the long-term interests of the nation.”
Republic UK, which campaigns to replace the monarchy with a democratically elected head of state, described the latest report as “dishonest” and “misleading”.
“Another hike for Charles, more spin and gloss and more misdirection on taxes. This is the way with royal reporting, the more they reveal the more questions are raised,” Republic CEO Graham Smith said.
Under the Sovereign Grant Act, the British monarch is not legally liable to pay income tax, capital gains tax or inheritance tax. However, in 1993, Queen Elizabeth agreed to start voluntarily paying tax following public pressure.
Breaking nearly two centuries of tradition
On Thursday, palace officials also confirmed that Charles and Queen Camilla will not live at Buckingham Palace after a £369 million (more than $705 million) refurbishment is completed next year. The project includes replacing ageing electrical wiring, pipes and heating.
Instead, the royals will continue to reside at Clarence House, ending almost two centuries of monarchical tradition.
Buckingham Palace has served as the monarch’s primary London residence since Queen Victoria became sovereign in 1837. Yet, Charles and Camilla have not stayed overnight in the palace since 2019.
Chalmers, the keeper of the privy purse said Buckingham Palace “will remain monarchy HQ, the crown jewel of our national buildings, with the sovereign’s standard flying proudly from the roof whenever his majesty is in London”.
— With additional reporting by Reuters and Associated Press.