Believe it or not, when King Charles was the Prince of Wales, he was much more transparent about the Duchy of Cornwall, the duchy’s income and the taxes he paid “voluntarily.” When Prince William became PoW in 2022 and took over the duchy, William refused to say anything other than “of course we pay taxes on duchy income,” without ever specifying the number or what income he gets exactly. William is a secret squirrel in all things, which is why many are mystified by how and why he seems to be liquidating duchy real estate as well. This weekend, the Times got a big exclusive on the amount William pays in taxes. This exclusive raises more questions than it answers.
Prince William pays up to £7 million in income tax a year, it can be revealed. The figure puts the heir to the throne in the top 0.002 per cent of taxpayers in the UK.
For years, William has resisted calls to reveal his tax bill, quoting the rights shared by any private citizen. The majority of his income comes from the more than £20 million a year he receives from the Duchy of Cornwall, a private estate of land worth about £1.1 billion bestowed on every heir to the throne since the 14th century.
However, he has been under increased pressure over transparency on tax after a Sunday Times investigation which revealed that the Duchy of Cornwall and the Duchy of Lancaster, which is awarded to the monarch, make millions by charging the army, navy, NHS and schools to use their land, rivers and seashores. Some of the leases have since been renegotiated.
Under an agreement between Queen Elizabeth II and the Treasury in 2013, the monarch is not legally liable to pay income tax, capital gains tax or inheritance tax. The Prince of Wales is also not legally liable to pay income tax on money received from the duchy.
Both, though, have always paid income and capital gains tax voluntarily. The Prince of Wales is allowed to deduct official expenditure from his duchy income before calculating his tax bill.
Queen Elizabeth II never declared her tax bill. When King Charles was Prince of Wales he voluntarily declared an income tax payment of £5.9 million in relation to the £23 million that he received from the duchy in the 2021-22 financial year. This suggests that Charles deducted expenses of around £10 million, according to calculations confirmed by accountants and tax experts.
Neither Charles nor William have declared their tax since then. It is understood that William has always paid the highest rate of tax — 45 per cent — and treats his tax affairs in a similar manner to his father.
In 2023-24, the first financial year in which he oversaw the Duchy of Cornwall, William received a record surplus of £23.6 million. About £13.5 million of this is thought to be taxable, with William’s total income tax bill in the region of £5 million to £7 million. A Kensington Palace spokesperson said: “The Prince of Wales pays the top rate of income and capital gains tax on all his personal income, including receipts from the Duchy.’’
It is not known what kind of expenses William files as tax deductions from his duchy income. Charles was previously criticised by the House of Commons public accounts committee for making deductions to cover the costs for “security guards, grooming and travel” for Camilla before the announcement of their engagement.
I have no idea if this information is coming from William’s office and, if it is, why he thought this would be a better solution than simply announcing his tax situation openly and describing his work deductions. He probably doesn’t do that because that would ALSO raise more questions, like what the hell is he doing with the excess income, why is he liquidating duchy assets, what is he declaring as a business expense (wiglets, helicopters), etc. Anyway, I don’t even believe that William is paying this much in taxes. But I am curious about why this story came out right now.
Prince William pays up to £7 million in income tax a year, it can be revealed. The figure puts the heir to the throne in the top 0.002 per cent of taxpayers in the UK.https://t.co/W51mx9c6xi pic.twitter.com/Fq0N2JJjQx
— The Times and Sunday Times (@thetimes) May 3, 2026
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.
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- Britain’s Prince William, Prince of Wales speaks with farmers during an event for sixty of the Duchy of Cornwall’s next generation of farming tenants, in Pensford, western England, on March 26, 2025.,Image: 979892373, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: *** NO UK USE FOR 48 HRS ***, Model Release: no, Credit line: Darren Staples/Avalon
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- Britain’s Prince William, Prince of Wales speaks with farmers during an event for sixty of the Duchy of Cornwall’s next generation of farming tenants, in Pensford, western England, on March 26, 2025.,Image: 979892487, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: *** NO UK USE FOR 48 HRS ***, Model Release: no, Credit line: Darren Staples/Avalon
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- The Prince of Wales, known as the Duke of Cornwall while in Cornwall, answers the phone to a customer at the shop during his visit to the Gear Farm Pasty Company, a family-run farm known for producing traditional Cornish pasties in St Martin, Helston, as he visits Cornwall for St Piran’s Day. Picture date: Thursday March 5, 2026.,Image: 1080347369, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: *** NO UK USE FOR 48 HRS ***, Model Release: no, Credit line: Aaron Chown/Avalon
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- The Prince of Wales, known as the Duke of Cornwall while in Cornwall, answers the phone to a customer at the shop during his visit to the Gear Farm Pasty Company, a family-run farm known for producing traditional Cornish pasties in St Martin, Helston, as he visits Cornwall for St Piran’s Day. Picture date: Thursday March 5, 2026.,Image: 1080347378, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: *** NO UK USE FOR 48 HRS ***, Model Release: no, Credit line: Aaron Chown/Avalon
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- Briytain’s Prince Willieam awaits the arrival of Britain’s King Charles III and Queens Camilla to attend the Easter Matins Service at St. George’s Chapel in Windsor, England, Sunday, April 5, 2026.,Image: 1088804708, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: WPA POOL PHOTO, *** NO UK USE FOR 48 HRS ***, Model Release: no, Credit line: Alberto Pezzali/Avalon
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- The Prince of Wales, known as the Duke of Cornwall when in Cornwall, breaks ground for the new facility during a visit to St. Mary’s Community Hospital, Isles of Scilly, to meet staff and hear about a new integrated health and social care facility which is set to be built on adjacent land owned by the Duchy of Cornwall Featuring: William, Prince of Wales Where: Isles of Scilly , United Kingdom When: 10 May 2024 Credit: POOL/Cover Images
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- The Prince of Wales, known as the Duke of Cornwall when in Cornwall, breaks ground for the new facility during a visit to St. Mary’s Community Hospital, Isles of Scilly, to meet staff and hear about a new integrated health and social care facility which is set to be built on adjacent land owned by the Duchy of Cornwall Featuring: William, Prince of Wales Where: Isles of Scilly , United Kingdom When: 10 May 2024 Credit: POOL/Cover Images
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- The Prince of Wales being shown worm composting during a visit to Lower Blakemere Farm, a Duchy Focus Farm in Hereford, to learn more about how the multigenerational farm has refined regenerative farming practices and farm diversification as part of its journey to net zero. The 630-acre farm was established in the early 1980s as a specialist seed grower with a herd of South Devon cattle Featuring: William, Prince of Wales Where: Hereford, United Kingdom When: 28 Jan 2025 Credit: PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
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- The Prince of Wales, known as the Duke of Cornwall while in Cornwall, during a visit to Tor Bog, an area of restored peatland on Dartmoor, as the Duchy of Cornwall launches a new landscape vision for the moor Featuring: William, Prince of Wales Where: London, United Kingdom When: 12 Jun 2025 Credit: PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
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- The Prince of Wales speaks with students during a visit to an environmentally sustainable urban regeneration programme at Sports Boulevard in Riyadh, on day two of his visit to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Featuring: Prince William, Prince of Wales Where: Riyadh, Saudi Arabia When: 10 Feb 2026 Credit: Isabel Infantes/PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
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- Annual Commonwealth Day Service of Celebration at Westminster Abbe Featuring: Prince William Where: London, United Kingdom When: 09 Mar 2026 Credit: Aaron Chown/PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
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- Members of the British royal family during a reception at Buckingham Palace in London, to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II’s birth Featuring: (Left to right) The Duchess of Gloucester, the Duke of Gloucester, the Duke of Kent, the Princess of Wales, the Prince of Wales, King Charles III, Queen Camilla, the Princess Royal, the Duke of Edinburgh, Princess Alexandra and the Duchess of Edinburgh at Buckingham Palace in London, to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II’s birth Where: London, United Kingdom When: 21 Apr 2026 Credit: PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
I said the other day that it’s amazing how these people LIE. The Times is just another lying, stenographing tabloid.
They basically looked at the Duchy’s supposed income and calculated what the taxes WOULD be, then claimed that William “pays up to” £7 million after already claiming that there is no way to know how much William pays. They did not even use the word “could” to give themselves plausible deniabilty. This is someone behind the scenes attempting to head off Republic’s push for more transparency about the Duchy’s (especially William’s) finances – especially in light of the recent sell-off of assets.
It is far more likely that William either pays a peppercorn tax or nothing at all. That’s what they don’t want the public to know. In other civilised countries, the royal families’ taxes are public, because any secrecy regarding their finances (though there is still some) would have the taxpayers up in arms. But not in little Britain. They have the entire news media covering for them with outright lies and obfuscations. Shame.
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“The once respected Times” (™️ Harry) truly “is just another lying, stenographing tabloid.”
Case in point: “Both, though, [Cornwall and Lancaster Duchies] have always paid income and capital gains tax voluntarily.” BZZZZT! Wrong! They didn’t start paying taxes until after Windsor Castle burnt in 1992, and Betty had her “annus horribilis” wherein she discovered the UK taxpayers had zero stomach to pay for rebuilding her castle.
Also regarding “Prince of Wales is allowed to deduct official expenditure from his duchy income before calculating his tax bill”—Chuck used to pay for security for Camilla and her family before they wed in 2005, or so I’ve read. Was the cost of Cammie’s privacy and security an “official expenditure” of the Duchy of Cornwall? Is there any way to find out?
From the article:
” Charles was previously criticised by the House of Commons public accounts committee for making deductions to cover the costs for “security guards, grooming and travel” for Camilla before the announcement of their engagement.”
As a British tax payers, im sorry. I don’t know whether to scream endlessly or what to do? Its so offensive. I can’t speak. I will speak but this minuim not ok
I genuinely feel broken about this garbage. Im so sorry, truly. Im a brit tax payer. It’s not ok
Bollocks.
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This is a guessing game. As long William does not publish the documents nobody knows if William pays taxes and how much.
“Up to” means “less than.”
BOOM! Yes, that “up to” is the tell. This scumbag could be paying 50 pounds per year.
They really think they’re clever, don’t they?
The press really does bank on its readers illiteracy.
It also means they don’t know. This story is also in the DM with the same “up to £7 million” with a headline claiming that they know.
Agreed – the words “up to” are doing a lot of heavy lifting here. And no one actually knows.
I think he pays a lot less than that – if he was paying that much, why not be more transparent about it?
Two things make sense to me for the lack of transparency – the first being William’s entitlement. He doesn’t think anyone “deserves” to know what he’s paying (or not paying) tax-wise. He’s the Prince of Wales and future king and people should just be happy he’s here.
The second reason is that something would be revealed if he was more transparent – maybe he’s including things as business expenses that shouldn’t be, maybe something listed would give something away about their lives (for example if has another home somewhere), etc.
I also pay “up to” $7M in taxes. Is it closer to $10k, sure, but I like how the rich say things.
This is much more accurate
Norman Baker pointed out that Charles and William do NOT pay capital gains taxes in addition to income taxes, ostensibly because they don’t own the duchy assets that are being transferred. Which, Baker also points out, makes it hypocritical for them to claim *all* the duchy income.
So it would be pretty surprising if Willy and Charles started to pay capital gains taxes. But also, the new emphasis on selling duchy assets might be to generate income that’s subject to the much lower capital gains tax rate (the capital gains tax rate is lower in the US, too).
So .. he pays “up to £7m” (which could by nil) on income he doesn’t actually earn. Are we supposed to respect him for this or something?
There’s no concrete prove of tax he pays this is just estimates
I just read how the Samsung family in South Korea just paid 7bn in taxes….made me physically ill & helps explains why SK’s public infrastructure is so on point
This info is not coming from KP. It’s an estimate based on KP saying that William pays the top rate and what Charles either earned or paid in his last year as Prince of Wales. William is still not transparent but the way the Times wrote this piece it seems like William disclosed his taxes. The Times is manipulating the public perhaps with the blessing of KP.
But isn’t the 7 million pounds ALSO Duchy money or some other source that is also funded by UK taxes? WILLIAM PAYS NO TAXES. Just so we’re clear.