A handout photograph released by the UK Parliament shows Britain's Prime Minister Rishi Sunak speaking during Prime Minister's Questions (PMQs), in the House of Commons, in London, on July 19, 2023. (Photo by JESSICA TAYLOR / UK PARLIAMENT / AFP)
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak cut the wind farm profits used to finance King Charles III’s household, directing the funds instead to boost the UK’s public finances.
The sovereign grant - used to fund the royal family - will be frozen at £86.3 million ($111 million) in the 2024-25 tax year, the Treasury said in a statement on Thursday.
That’s despite a 41% jump in profits at the Crown Estate linked to income from new leases for six offshore wind farms. The estate manages much of the UK seabed on behalf of the monarchy.
The Treasury said it’s slashing in half the proportion of the Crown Estate’s profits that will be directed to the monarchy. The reduction to 12% from 25% will give the government an extra £24 million in 2024/2025, and £130 million in the two subsequent years, it said.
The new arrangement "reflects the unexpected significant increase in the Crown Estate’s net profits,” Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt said in the statement.
He added that it will nevertheless provide "enough funding” for official royal business as well as "essential property maintenance” including a 10-year program to refurbish Buckingham Palace, the king’s official residence in London.
Since 1760, the British monarchy has surrendered income from the Crown Estate to the government in return for annual funding. Profits that aren’t directed to the royal family are then used to fund public spending.
The royal family’s £15.8 billion of holdings include swathes of property in London and almost the entire seabed around England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
The UK’s transition to a low-carbon economy has pushed more and more money into offshore wind, helping the Crown Estate to a record £443 million profit this year.
