New reports on the financial status of Britain’s royal family and its extensive property portfolio have unveiled a double dose of positive developments for the household, which has faced challenges due to recent illnesses and injuries.
Profits from the Crown Estate, responsible for managing the royal family’s vast land and property assets, surged to £1.1 billion (approximately $1.4 billion) from £442.6 million in the previous year, as per the estate’s annual report. This significant increase can be attributed mainly to deals related to the leasing of seabed sites to offshore wind producers.
Consequently, the sovereign grant, the money the royal family receives from the government, is set to increase to £132 million in 2025-2026, up from the £86.3 million received in recent years.
Historically, net profits from the Crown Estate have been handed over to the government in exchange for a fixed annual payment to sustain the royal family and its obligations. Since 2012, this payment has been in the form of the sovereign grant, which is calculated as a percentage of the estate’s profits.
King Charles had previously requested that the expected rise in profits from wind power deals be utilized for the “wider public good.” Consequently, the prior government agreed to decrease the sovereign grant to 12 percent of net profits starting this year, down from the previous 25 percent. Had the grant remained at 25 percent, the king would have received £275 million instead of £132 million, a substantial increase that could have potentially impacted the royal family’s public support during a period when a significant portion of Britain is grappling with a cost-of-living crisis.
Dan Labbad, the chief executive of the Crown Estate, mentioned in the annual report that the boost in profits was “short-term in nature,” emphasizing that in the upcoming years, “revenue and valuation will normalize.”
