What did the queen own? While nothing requires British monarchs to reveal their private finances, she was at the head of a personal fortune of 370 million pounds in 2022 according to the Sunday Times, 5 million more than the previous year.
Buckingham Palace, the royal London residence, and Windsor Castle, regarding thirty kilometers west of the capital, are state properties, but Balmoral Castle, the royal family’s summer resort, and the residence of Sandringham, where the royal family traditionally celebrates the end of year celebrations, were they properties of the monarch and will be bequeathed to Charles.
The Queen also owned a large stock portfolio and a royal stamp collection worth an estimated £100 million, according to the authors of the ranking “Rich List” 2021 you Times.
The Queen’s fortune comes on top of Charles’ personal fortune, estimated at $100m (£87m) by celebritynetworth.com.
The famous Crown Jewels, valued at some £3 billion, symbolically belonged to the Queen and are automatically passed on to her successor.
Prince Philip, husband of Elizabeth, left a more modest estate of 30 million pounds when he died in April 2021, according to celebritynetworth. He notably possessed a collection of paintings and 3,000 works, most of which would have been bequeathed to friends and family.
Duchy of Lancaster
By becoming king, Charles inherits the Duchy of Lancaster, property of royalty since the Middle Ages, which had generated during the tax year ended in March 24 million pounds of private income intended for the British monarch.
“The Money of Lancaster belongs to the Sovereign, King or Queen, by virtue of his office”explains David McClure, author of a book on royal finances.
Charles, on the other hand, loses the Duchy of Cornwall, which goes to the monarch’s eldest son and generates around 21 million pounds a year. “He will return directly (to Prince) William”says McClure.
Charles also receives an annual allowance (“sovereign grant”) of the Public Treasury, set at 15% of the revenue from the Crown’s assets, the “Crown Estate”, which includes land but also a colossal park of wind turbines, among other things, and whose revenue has been returned to the Public Treasury for a Act of 1760.
This allocation had reached 86.3 million pounds for 2021-2022, taking into account a substantial extension for the renovation of Buckingham Palace granted for ten years (34.5 million pounds for 2021-2022).
The sovereign grant makes it possible to finance the expenses related to the official activities of representation of the sovereign or the members of his family, in particular the salary of the staff, the maintenance and the cleaning of the palaces, the official trips as well as the receptions.
Succession royale
If most of the Queen’s wealth is passed on to Charles without inheritance tax, it is thanks to an exemption dating back to 1993 that is supposed to prevent that, if several monarchs were to die within a few years of each other, the heritage of the king or queen vanishes, being reduced by 40% with each inheritance.
“Private assets such as Sandringham and Balmoral have both official and private use,” further explains the Ministry of Finance, adding that the monarchy must also “have a certain degree of financial independence vis-à-vis the government in place”.
But this advantage is limited to transmissions between a sovereign and his successor. “It is likely that the Queen will leave a will and that small sums” will go to close family members “but not the main wealth”which will go to Charles, assures David McClure.