Charles will stay at nearby Clarence House; renovations budgeted to cost \u00a3369 million<\/p>\n
A person holds an umbrella to shield from the sun outside Buckingham Palace after it was announced that Britain’s King Charles will not live there after its 10-year refurbishment finishes next year, amid a heatwave in London, Britain. Photo: Reuters <\/p>\n
King Charles will not live at Buckingham Palace after its 10-year refurbishment finishes next year, royal officials said on Thursday, ending nearly \u200btwo centuries of the London landmark serving as the British monarch\u2019s primary residence.<\/p>\n
Officials at the same time disclosed the king \u200cpaid \u00a312.9 million ($17.0 million) in tax in 2024\/25 \u2014 the first time the figure has been made public \u2014 placing him among Britain\u2019s top 100 taxpayers.<\/p>\n
Members of the royal family have promised greater transparency about their finances amid growing scrutiny and criticism since the death of Queen Elizabeth in 2022.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Palace still Monarchy’s ‘headquarters’<\/strong><\/p>\n Charles’ decision not to live at Buckingham Palace and remain at Clarence House, his longstanding \u200bLondon home nearby, comes ahead of the completion next year of a \u00a3369 million ($487 million) refurbishment to replace ageing electrical wiring, pipes and heating \u200bsystems.<\/p>\n When work started in 2017, officials had expected the palace to remain the monarch’s primary London residence, as it had been since Queen \u2060Victoria became sovereign in 1837.<\/p>\n James Chalmers, the king’s treasurer, known as the Keeper of the Privy Purse, said it would remain the primary venue for ceremonial \u200band official functions, including hosting state visits.<\/p>\n Read<\/strong>:\u00a0Mahira Khan meets King Charles III at British Asian Trust gala in London<\/a><\/p>\n “It is and will remain ‘monarchy HQ’, the crown jewel of our national buildings, with the sovereign\u2019s standard flying \u200bproudly from the roof whenever His Majesty is in London,” he told reporters.<\/p>\n Neither Charles nor the late Queen Elizabeth had stayed overnight at the palace since 2019. The king will maintain private rooms there that could be used as accommodation.<\/p>\n Some 700,000 people visit the building every year, and public access will be increased, Chalmers said, without providing details.<\/p>\n Charles reveals tax bills\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n By law, the British king is not obliged to pay income, capital gains or inheritance tax, but Charles, has voluntarily done so without disclosing the \u200bamounts, as his mother did after 1993.<\/p>\n Charles, like all monarchs since 1399, gets a private income from the vast Duchy of Lancaster estate \u2014 \u00a325.2 million in 2025\/26 \u2014 as \u200cwell as \u2060from his other holdings and investments.<\/p>\n Chalmers said the king had paid \u00a311.7 million in tax in 2023\/24 and more than \u00a330 million in all since becoming king in 2022.<\/p>\n He also receives money from the government, known as the Sovereign Grant, based on a percentage of profits from the\u00a0Crown Estate<\/a>, a property portfolio whose revenues the monarch surrenders to state coffers in exchange for an annual payment, to pay for staff, royal palaces and travel.<\/p>\n The grant, boosted by soaring profits from the sale \u200bof offshore windfarm licences, rose from \u00a386 \u200bmillion in 2024\/25 to \u00a3132 million the \u2060following year and will be \u00a3137.9 million in 2026\/27.<\/p>\n Also Read<\/strong>:\u00a0King Charles grasped ‘opportunity’ on US trip, palace says<\/a><\/p>\n But Chalmers said it would be cut for the first time in 2027\/28, to \u00a3100 million, “in line with His Majesty\u2019s clear wishes”, a level where it will stay until 2031\/32.<\/p>\n That makes it \u200balmost \u00a360 million higher than in 2016, when the funding formula was changed to pay for the Buckingham Palace \u200brefit. “This is not a \u2060blank cheque,” Chalmers said, adding there were safeguards in place to ensure the amount was proportional.<\/p>\n Media revelations in 2024 that the Duchy of Lancaster and heir-to-the-throne Prince William’s Duchy of Cornwall estate were\u00a0charging<\/a>\u00a0Britain’s health service, army and schools rent have generated criticism, as did details this month about royal\u00a0property arrangements<\/a>.<\/p>\n William’s office said he had paid \u00a37.76 million in \u2060tax in \u200b2024\/25 and instructed that \u00a31.5 million in rent from a closed prison go to the \u200blocal community.<\/p>\n Critics said the royal finances still remained opaque.<\/p>\n “Another hike for Charles, more spin and gloss and more misdirection on taxes,” said Graham Smith, the chief executive of anti-monarchy campaign group \u200bRepublic. “This is the way with royal reporting: the more they reveal, the more questions are raised.”<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Charles will stay at nearby Clarence House; renovations budgeted to cost \u00a3369 million A person holds an umbrella to shield from the sun outside Buckingham Palace after it was announced that Britain’s King Charles will not live there after its 10-year refurbishment finishes next year, amid a heatwave in London, Britain. 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