King Charles’s official London residence will stay as Clarence Home and never Buckingham Palace as soon as refurbishment work on the well-known constructing is accomplished subsequent yr, it has been confirmed
The King and Queen on the Buckingham Palace balcony earlier this month (Picture: Getty Pictures)
The King won’t ever dwell at Buckingham Palace – regardless of taxpayers paying £369milllon to renovate the historic palace.
The enduring constructing will stay the operational centre of “monarchy HQ” after a decade lengthy renovation challenge finishes subsequent yr, however Charles has determined it won’t be the official residence of his reign. The King and Queen will proceed to dwell at close by Clarence Home in London, whereas the monarch continues to maintain properties in Scotland, Gloucestershire and Norfolk, in addition to utilizing Windsor Citadel in Berkshire.
The choice ends practically 200 years of historical past of the monarch being based mostly at Buckingham Palace, since Queen Victoria took up residence in 1837.
Royal aides stated the world-famous landmark would proceed to welcome 1000’s of friends yearly, from incoming world leaders on State Visits, to group heroes attending investitures and backyard events.
“His Majesty retains enormous affection for Buckingham Palace and a deep respect for its function in royal and public life,” a palace spokesperson argued. It is going to be a buzzing hive of royal exercise in each different approach”.
On the publication of the annual report into royal funds at present, it emerged how the King will profit from an inflation-busting pay rise – with core funding of the monarchy ballooning to £100 million a yr, virtually doubling within the house of three years.
Underneath a brand new components for calculating the Sovereign Grant, which pays for the royal household’s official duties and the maintenance of royal palaces, the Royal Family is to obtain £99.9 million as a core grant in 2027-28, a bounce of £48.1 million in contrast with the core grant of £51.8 million in 2024-25.
The change was determined upon by Royal Trustees – outgoing Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Chancellor Rachel Reeves, and the King’s Keeper of the Privy Purse and Treasurer James Chalmers.
Aides stated the increase shall be used to pay for a backlog in upkeep at occupied royal palaces, strengthen cyber safety at royal residences, and for the set up of power environment friendly heating methods – with £11 million put aside to exchange boilers nearing the tip of their life at Windsor Citadel.
Mr Chalmers insisted the funding was “not a clean cheque” and there have been strict worth for cash necessities.
Nevertheless, royal finance specialists and former Privy Council member Norman Baker, stated: “The Royal Household is proving massively costly. If Charles desires to have his slimmed-down monarchy, there needs to be a slimmed-down invoice to the taxpayer to go along with it.”
Accounts have been printed for the Sovereign Grant – the funding from the Treasury that’s utilized by the royal family to pay for official duties – in addition to the King’s private fortune from the Duchy of Lancaster and the Duchy of Cornwall, which Prince William inherited when he grew to become Prince of Wales.
The figures confirmed for the primary time that future king William is richer than the King, with a web price by way of the Duchy of £1.2billion. In distinction, Charles was listed within the Sunday Instances Wealthy Record as having a private fortune of £640 million – a rise of £30million from the earlier yr.
In a bid to be extra clear with the best way the royal household is funded, the King has change into the primary monarchy in historical past to disclose his personal tax cost.
Charles this yr revealed has paid greater than £30m in tax since turning into King in 2022. The most recent figures present he paid £12.9 million in 2024-25 and £11.7m for 2023-24.
The Prince of Wales contributed £7.76m in revenue and capital features tax in 2024-25, and £8.34m in 2023-24. It has additionally emerged William will give again the £1.5 million annual hire generated by the deserted Dartmoor Jail. The prince has requested for the sum to be faraway from the multimillion-pound revenue he receives as inheritor to the throne from the Duchy of Cornwall from 2026-27 onwards, with the cash spent on regenerating the area people as an alternative.
The Prince and Princess of Wales have just lately moved to a brand new eight bed room mansion on the Windsor property, described by mates as their “ceaselessly residence”. William and Kate have signed a long run lease on the property, costing £307,200 a yr.
Sources near the couple counsel they don’t have any intention of ever residing at Buckingham Palace or their former residence Kensington Palace when William turns into King.
Mr Baker, writer of Royal Mint, Nationwide Debt added: “Plainly some huge cash has simply been wasted. If Charles doesn’t need to dwell at Buckingham Palace that’s advantageous, but it surely needs to be completely opened up full-time with all of the ticket gross sales going again to the treasury to pay for the refurbishment work. It’s outrageous.
“And it seems William has been pressured into an embarrassing U-turn by revealing his tax invoice. It’s a very welcome step ahead however there needs to be extra data with a full breakdown of their tax invoice and what they’re claiming as bills.”
A brief decade-long uplift to the Sovereign Grant was put in place from 2017 to pay for the £369 million overhaul of Buckingham Palace.
The refurbishments are coming to an finish in 2027, when the annual general grant will fall from £137.9 million, which incorporates each core funding and the Buckingham Palace renovations funds, in 2026-27, to a core funding of £99.9 million in 2027-28.
The brand new determine shall be, nevertheless, virtually double the core grant of £51.8 million in 2024-25, and £27.8 million above the core grant of £72.1 million in 2025-26.
The official funding of round £100 million a yr is ready to proceed for a interval of 5 years, till the subsequent overview, as a result of Crown Property earnings, which benefited beforehand from a significant increase from offshore wind farms, are anticipated to be “considerably impacted” as Offshore Wind choice charges stop, the Royal Family’s report on royal funds revealed.
In 2016-17, earlier than the beginning of the Palace renovations, the Sovereign Grant for official duties and common official residence maintenance was £42.8 million – a determine, which based on the Financial institution of England inflation calculator, would at present be price £60.4 million.
The Royal Trustees determined of their overview that the Sovereign Grant shall be 20.5% of Crown Property web earnings from 2027-28, quite than the present fee of 12%, for 5 years.
Mr Chalmers added: “You will need to emphasise that the Sovereign Grant doesn’t present private revenue to members of the Royal Household. It funds the work of the establishment – not personal lives or personal wealth.”
The Sovereign Grant is met from public funds in trade for the King’s give up of the income from the Crown Property, two years in arrears.
The Crown Property’s 2025-26 annual accounts, printed on Thursday, confirmed a web income revenue of £487 million – down from £1.1 billion in 2023/4. The King and Queen undertook 104 extra public engagements throughout 2025-26 than within the earlier yr, with a 15% improve within the variety of journeys taken by senior members of the royal household.
Royals spend £3m on journey
The royal household spent greater than £3million on journey final yr, together with £160,733 on simply 4 journeys on the Royal Practice.
The Prince of Wales topped the annual checklist of the most costly royal journeys for the primary time since his father grew to become King.
William’s official three-day go to to Saudi Arabia in February 2026 on behalf of the UK authorities price a complete of £130,106, together with spending on two extra planning journeys by employees. This was simply forward of the £126,946 in journey prices for the King and Queen’s four-day state go to to Italy in April 2025.
William’s official tour of Brazil to host his Earthshot Awards and attend the COP summit price £79,000. The figures have been printed as a part of the royal household’s yearly report on its funds, detailing cash spent on the official engagements of the royal household.
The royals took 177 helicopter journeys at a complete price of £733,063 – figuring out at £4,000 per journey. Royal aides stated all circumstances have been thought-about together with the King and Queen’s skill to journey the nation and safety.
The report covers the 12 months to March 2026 and features a breakdown of all journeys by relations the place journey prices have been no less than £20,000.
Buckingham Palace closing gender pay hole
For the second yr in a row, the royal family had matched its document for using extra ladies than males – with a 54% proportion of feminine staff.
Buckingham Palace is main the best way on closing the gender pay hole, with the imply hole standing at 4.29% , which is approach beneath the nationwide common with stands at 12.8%
Nevertheless, the palace’s proportion of ethnic minority staff decreased barely , from 12.1% to 11.9%.
The Sovereign Grant report states the royal family acknowledged the proportion remained beneath its long run ambition of 18%, aligned with UK census knowledge and former goal of 14% set in December 2025.
