• The regal family unit gets paid through a mix of public and private funds.
  • The Queen'due south net worth fell to $460 million in 2020, according to UK newspaper The Sunday Times.
  • According to Oprah's interview with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, the couple were "cutting off." Here's how they, and the royal family, make their money.

In The Crown flavor 3, episode four, Tobias Menzies's Prince Philip gives an interview to NBC's Encounter the Printing. In it, he addresses the royals' rumored money problems and the fact that the queen hadn't had a "pay raise" in almost 18 years (this interview actually took place in Nov of 1969, two years afterward his female parent, Princess Alice, moved into Buckingham Palace).

In the real-life program, host Lawrence Spivak cited a London news report and asked Philip, "it goes on to detail the very high cost that the majestic family must sustain on an allowance of one 1000000 one hundred thou dollars a yr. Is that creating an awkward state of affairs?"

"Very," Prince Philip, who died on April 9, 2021, replied. "We become into the red next year." Equally to whether they'd had to shutter any of their estates, Philip said, "No, not altogether. Nosotros've closed down...well for instance, the queen had a small yacht that she had to sell. And I should probably take to surrender polo adequately shortly." At the time, Philip'southward remarks provoked ill volition from the British public, who failed to share his view that selling a yacht counts as a financial hardship.

The question of where and how the royals go their money resurfaced post-obit Prince Harry and Meghan Markle'south interview with Oprah which aired on March vii (though yous can all the same sentry it). Harry revealed to Oprah that "my family literally cut me off financially" after he and Meghan announced their official go out as senior members of "the House." The royal family's "salaries" had last made headlines in November 2019, following unconfirmed reports that Prince Andrew, Queen Elizabeth's second-youngest son, would forego his annual payment of roughly $300,000 afterward stepping dorsum from public duties for the foreseeable time to come amidst a cloud of scandal.

So what are the imperial family's salaries, how do they earn them, and where does the money come from? What'south the Queen's net worth, and how are Meghan and Harry making coin at present? Here'south what we know, including how these funds costs the boilerplate taxpayer in England.

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How much does Uk pay the royal family?

As with most things royals-related, the answer is complicated. The majestic family is paid through a mix of public and individual coin—that'southward on tiptop of net worths that include inherited wealth, a significant real manor portfolio, and other assets. Virtually of Queen Elizabeth II's and her children with the late Prince Philip's annual income and expenses are paid through iii sources: the public Sovereign Grant, and the private Duchies of Cornwall and Lancaster.

The Sovereign Grant

Since 2012, the queen'due south official duties, and the costs involved in maintaining the occupied palaces, take been paid for past a government-administered annual lump sum called the Sovereign Grant. According to the British monarchy's official site, "funding for the Sovereign Grant comes from a per centum of the profits of the Crown Estate revenue." The Crown Estate, as CNN Coin explains, tin can be roughly divers equally "a drove of U.K. properties and farms that generate hundreds of millions of pounds each year."

These lands were first surrendered by George III back in 1760, to be managed by the Treasury going frontward. The Crown Estate technically belongs to the reigning monarch, simply as their site clarifies, "it is not the private property of the monarch —it cannot be sold by the monarch, nor do revenues from it belong to the monarch." It'due south presently overseen by an contained arrangement'southward board.

In the 2018-2019 fiscal year, the full Sovereign Grant amount was 82.2 million pounds (that's nearly $106 meg in American dollars). Neither the queen nor her family unit are raking that total in, though: 32.nine million pounds of that were allotted for "Reservicing of Buckingham Palace," and information technology also covers the majestic family's duty-related travel expenses, payroll, and other staff costs, and literally keeping the lights on.

The Sovereign Grant replaced the Civil List and three Grants-in-Aid for travel, communications, and palace maintenance. Until it was abolished in 2012, the Civil Listing was an almanac amount the authorities used to give the queen to encompass her duties as Caput of Land and Head of the Republic, and Grants-in-Assist from authorities departments that previously paid for imperial duties-related travel and upkeep of majestic residencies.

The Privy Purse and the Duchy of Lancaster

If the Sovereign Grant is an expense account of sorts, the Privy Purse includes the queen's actual income (her estates are also considered included in the Privy Purse). The queen'southward income is drawn from the Duchy of Lancaster, which is a portfolio of land, property and assets held in trust for the reigning sovereign. In 2018, the Privy Purse received nearly xx million pounds (about 26 million U.Southward. dollars) in income from the Duchy of Lancaster.

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While the Queen uses office of this money to cover boosted expenses, Elizabeth also draws from it to pay her children Prince Andrew, Prince Edward, and Princess Anne a bacon for their schedule of majestic engagements around the world. Though again, Prince Andrew stepped away from his public duties in 2019, and it's not immediately articulate whether he's still receiving whatever funds from his female parent the queen (British tabloid the Daily Express claims that he is, per an unnamed source—but Buckingham Palace has not confirmed).

The Duchy of Cornwall

Established in 1137, the private estate "funds the public, charitable, and private activities of the Prince of Wales and his family," its site says. Information technology consists of land and properties in 23 English counties, and a portfolio of investments. While Prince Charles's siblings are paid through the Duchy of Lancaster, nigh of Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles's income is from the Duchy of Cornwall—90 percent, according to CNN Coin. Prince Charles pays Prince William and Kate Middleton, and formerly Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, through revenue surplus from the Duchy of Cornwall.

In the 2019-2020 fiscal year, Charles and Camilla received well-nigh 22.2 meg pounds (about $30 million American dollars) in income from the Duchy of Cornwall, and almost ii 1000000 pounds of funding from the Sovereign Grant allotted to subsidize their official royal activities. "The majority of staff and official and charitable work, including the official offices of The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and The Duke and Duchess of Sussex activity, are paid for from His Regal Highness'southward private income from the Duchy of Cornwall," their annual review states. In the 2018-2019 fiscal twelvemonth, Charles and Camila undertook 638 social engagements in fourteen countries. From 2019-2020, they "undertook 580 engagements" in the U.G. and abroad.

Today, the Knuckles and Duchess of Sussex—aka Harry and Meghan—are not senior working royals and no longer receive Duchy funds. Prince William and Kate Middleton, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, still receive at least several million from the Duchy annually.

The Queen'southward net worth fell in 2020.

It may surprise you lot to know that while the queen is the richest member of the royal family, she isn't a billionaire. Somehow, she makes practice.

In 2020, the Queen's net worth reportedly dipped past twenty million pounds from the previous yr, according to the almanac Sunday Times Rich List. The paper values her current net worth every bit 350 one thousand thousand pounds, or roughly $486 one thousand thousand USD.

In 2019, Forbes had assessed the Queen's cyberspace worth every bit equal to to the lowest degree $500 1000000 USD. Per the Crown Manor's annual study for 2019/20, the value of the British purple land portfolio fell by 1.2 per centum to £thirteen.iv billion in 2020 due to the Covid-nineteen lockdown impacting tourism and retail in particular.

That downward trend is likely to continue. "Whilst it is far also early on to accurately forecast our performance for the 2020/21 financial year, we exercise look our net revenue profit and property valuations to be significantly down," the report added.

By reports, Her Majesty is notoriously frugal. "Newspapers are shredded for horse bedding, parcel cord is reused, frayed sheets and dusters are darned," the Sunday Times writes in regards to Buckingham Palace housekeeping.

Harry and Meghan were "cut off" and live off his inheritance from Princess Diana.

In the Jan 2020 annunciation of their intention to footstep back from royal duties, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle stated a desire to "piece of work to become financially contained." In September 2020, Newsweek confirmed that Prince Harry was no longer receiving funds via the Duchy of Cornwall. That same month, the couple as well announced that they'd paid back the £two.4 million in public money taken from the Sovereign Grant that was used to renovate their Windsor Domicile, Frogmore Cottage.

But in their sit-downwardly interview with Oprah, Harry and Meghan revealed they'd actually stopped being paid in the first quarter of 2020—much earlier than discussions about their divergence had led them to believe. "My family literally cut me off financially, and I had to beget security for united states of america," Harry said, voicing concerns for their son Archie's safety without the security detail the purple family had revoked.

Harry says they'd been living off of his share of the inheritance his mother, Princess Diana, left to him and his blood brother William after her death in 1997. According to The Contained, afterward taxes, the half that Harry received upon turning 25 amounts to effectually $xiii 1000000 USD. "Without that, nosotros wouldn't have been able to practice this," Harry said, suggesting their move to a new home in California was made possible thank you to those funds.

Harry and Meghan inked what'south believed to be a very lucrative Netflix deal, estimated to exist worth between 100 and 240 1000000 in U.South. dollars (the streaming platform hasn't confirmed a sum). They also produce a podcast in a deal with Spotify, and Oprah and Harry are producing a docu-series on mental health for Apple TV+. Initially, "the Netflix and the Spotify of information technology all weren't role of the plan," Harry told Oprah in the interview.

These revenue streams are in addition to Markle'due south own money from her previous career as an actress—in her days on U.s.a. drama Suits, she earned a reported salary of about $450,000 in addition to endorsements and related income. While it'due south an unconfirmed number, a February 2020 Forbes report estimated Harry and Meghan's net worth at about $ten million.

Castles, stocks, and stamps

The queen'southward got assets, patently. In addition to her personal portfolio of investments and a sweetness postage collection, Elizabeth inherited Balmoral and Sandringham Estates from her father. The queen couldn't hock a tiara or two if times got tough, however—she doesn't technically ain the Crown Jewels, the royal residences, or most of the Royal Art Collections. Those must exist passed on to the next sovereign (and then they'll remain in the family, patently).

Balmoral Castle

Balmoral, the Queen's Scotland vacation home.

Tim Graham // Getty Images

And again, whatsoever income that trickles downwardly to Elizabeth's children and grandchildren from the Duchies is on summit of their own inherited wealth.

Does the Queen pay taxes?

Yep. The queen has voluntarily paid income tax and majuscule gains taxation since 1992; whatever income received from the Duchy of Lancaster that doesn't become to official expenses is taxed also. She'southward subject to Value Added Tax as well voluntarily pays local taxes.

What does paying the royals cost British taxpayers?

Out of pocket? Honestly, not much—collectively, that is. In 2018, it cost each average British taxpayer nigh 65 pence a year, co-ordinate to Fast Company. So less than a dollar. Even with the toll spiking by 41 percent in 2019 per Business concern Insider, the individual taxpayer notwithstanding pays cup-of-coffee money. An artisanal, organic cup of coffee.


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