Capital Economy, Business and Finance
The King is in line to receive a £45 million pay rise thanks to a 50 per cent rise in Crown Estate profits driven largely by the monarchy’s leasing of UK seabed for offshore wind projects. The Sovereign Grant, which pays for the royal family’s running costs and the ongoing renovation of Buckingham Palace, will rise to £132 million in 2025/26, up from £83 million the previous year. Last year the grant was reduced from a quarter to 12 per cent of the Crown Estate’s net profits, and will be reviewed again in 2026/27 to ensure that funding is kept to an “appropriate level”. The royal accounts reveal that Frogmore Cottage, the former home of the Sussexes that was renovated at a cost of £24 million to the taxpayer, remains empty. Funds from the grant have also been used to replace the household’s 15 year-old aircraft with two new helicopters, and to convert the King’s two state Bentleys to run on biofuel. Despite a 3 per cent reduction in natural gas usage to heat the royal estates, overall emissions are up, largely due to increased business travel. But official engagements by the family dropped this year from 2,700 to 2,300, due partly to ill health.
