This news came out in the middle of the frenetic melodrama over the Sussex family’s likely visit to the UK in mid-July. That’s not a coincidence – the palace was happy that this news was somewhat buried, even if the palace announced it themselves. So, you know how King Charles and Prince William have been exposed as slumlords who collect “private income” from charging rent from the NHS, the military, the prison system and charities? Both the sovereign and heir have their own duchy slush funds – the Duchy of Lancaster and Duchy of Cornwall – which provide them “private income.” Both Charles and William make a big deal about how they choose to pay income tax on their duchy incomes, but since QEII’s death, neither has disclosed the exact amount they pay. That will change!

The King and the Prince of Wales are to disclose how much tax they pay in an attempt to improve “transparency and understanding across royal finances”. In a “historic first” Buckingham Palace will this week announce the King’s personal tax payment for the financial year 2024-25.

It will reveal how much tax Charles pays on the profits of his 45,000-acre Duchy of Lancaster estate and his other private investments. Prince William, who has previously resisted calls to disclose details of his income tax, will reveal his tax payment for the same year when his Duchy of Cornwall, the 128,000-acre estate from which he receives his personal income, publishes its annual report this week.

It will be seen as a significant step forward in how the royal family operates at a time when it is facing increased scrutiny over its finance and property arrangements. A report by the National Audit Office this month showed that the disgraced Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor sub-let three cottages at his former Windsor home, Royal Lodge, as part of a lease arrangement with the Crown Estate, which oversees royal properties.

Charles, 77, who voluntarily pays income tax on his private income from the duchy and capital gains tax on relevant elements of his assets, such as private investments, disclosed his tax payment when he was the Prince of Wales. He has not done so since he became monarch in 2022. The Palace said: “The decision to do so as sovereign has come at the express wish of the King.”

Sources close to William said he was also keen to “deliver further transparency” about his financial arrangements. Last month The Sunday Times revealed that William pays up to £7 million a year in tax, putting him in the top 0.002 per cent of taxpayers in the UK.

Details of Charles and William’s 2025-26 financial years have not yet been fully audited, but it is understood they will be published next year and their tax payments will be disclosed annually.

[From The Times]

I’m not sure why they included that bit about Crown Estate leases – that will not figure into any disclosures about income tax. That’s a whole separate thing, and I hope that Parliament continues to audit the Crown Estate and all of the royal leases. Keep in mind, it’s not like William and Charles are going to release detailed audits of their duchies either – the disclosures will be the broadest strokes they can get away with. It will probably be one or two sentences, “The King paid such-and-such in income tax, the end.” I mean, I have no room to talk as an American – American presidents used to release full annual financial disclosures… but then Donald Trump decided he had too much to hide, so he’s refused to disclose ANYTHING. He really sees himself as a tyrant king.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.