On Monday, Buckingham Palace released all of their “financials” – a general accounting of the increased Sovereign Grant, an announcement of the Royal Train decommissioning, and a general promise to be keen and to engage in soft-power, even if the British public is getting much less from the Windsors these days. Alongside BP’s announcements, Kensington Palace tried to do their own disclosures. The problem is that Prince William doesn’t want to disclose jacksh-t and he thinks his inherited Duchy of Cornwall income is no one’s business. For the past two years, William’s office has refused to disclose how much they pay in “voluntary” taxes. Republic’s Graham Smith is on another tear:

The Prince of Wales has been criticised for failing to reveal the amount of tax he pays for the second consecutive year. When the King was heir to the throne, his office outlined the figure that Charles had voluntarily paid in tax. Releasing the latest accounts of the Duchy of Cornwall, however, the estate declined to give the figure that Prince William pays in tax on the surplus profits he receives from the 52,000-hectare estate spread across 19 counties.

Graham Smith, the chief executive of Republic, the anti-monarchy campaign group, said: “It is frankly contemptible behaviour not to reveal the amount of tax he pays. He earns 138 times the salary of the prime minister and our view is that the Duchy isn’t private property but should be given back to the public.”

Critics have long attacked the lack of transparency over royal finances and David McClure, the author of Royal Legacy, said they were “shrouded in fog”. The tax arrangements for the Prince of Wales are outlined in the Memorandum of Understanding on Royal Taxation, a Treasury document last updated in July 2023 following the King’s accession to the throne. It states that there is no legal obligation for the King and his heir, the Prince of Wales, to pay tax on their private income but they have done so since an agreement in 1993 with the late Queen.

The memorandum reads: “The Prince of Wales pays income tax on income arising after September 8, 2022 from the Duchy of Cornwall to the extent that it is not used to defray expenditure in connection with his official duties, or official duties performed by any members of his family.”

Under the agreement, the Prince of Wales pays tax on the profits of the Duchy of Cornwall, but only after subtracting expenses to fund his public office. With no outline of costs, however, it is impossible to know how much of his income the prince has written off as a legitimate expense and what it is spent on. Ian Patrick, the prince’s private secretary, said: “The Prince of Wales pays the highest rate of income tax.”

However, it is understood that Kensington Palace views the specific amount paid by the prince as a private matter. The Treasury document notes that the Prince of Wales is not subject to capital gains tax because he is “not entitled to its capital or capital gains”. It adds: “The memorandum of understanding provides for the possibility of variation or termination of the arrangements; however, the agreement is expected to continue indefinitely. As indicated above, The Prince of Wales has confirmed that he intends the arrangements to apply on his accession to the Throne.”

[From The Times]

“It is understood that Kensington Palace views the specific amount paid by the prince as a private matter….” How? How is it a private matter when he’s a public servant in a hereditary system, profiting from a slumlord duchy? It should also be a public disclosure because people need to know what it costs to maintain the KP offices and what it costs to maintain the Wales family. This is William through and through, and he’s rarely ever called out on his “privacy obsession,” even in cases where there’s a reasonable right to expect public disclosure.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.