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How much does the royal family cost? A breakdown of the key figures

How much does the royal family cost? A breakdown of the key figures

The Government has announced that King Charles III will receive a huge pay rise of 45 per cent from 2025.

The increase, together with rising inflation, the King’s accession, additional expenses for the Queen’s funeral, and the continuing renovation of Buckingham Palace meant that the monarchy ended up spending almost £21 million more than the allocated sovereign grant permits over 2022-23.

The cost of living crisis shows no sign of going away and the British public may be wondering how much they are spending on the royal family.

Here are some of the key figures from the royal accounts for the financial year 2022-2023, according to the royal family’s official website.

How much does the royal family cost?

This year, the total taxpayer-funded sovereign grant was £86.3 million, made up of £51.8 million for the core funding and an extra £34.5 million for maintaining Buckingham Palace.

The official expenditure by the monarchy was £107.5 million – a rise of five per cent from £102.4 million in 2021-2022.

The cost per person in the UK of funding the total sovereign grant was £1.29 – which had not changed since last year. However, the cost per person of the core part of the sovereign grant for official duties – not including funds for the long-term Buckingham Palace works – was 77p.

Income earned to supplement the sovereign grant was £9.8 million, a decrease of one per cent from £9.9 million in 2021-22. This figure is less than 50 per cent of pre-pandemic levels.

Official expenditure was more than the sovereign grant and the supplementary income earned, with a net expenditure of £107.5 million. This is a five per cent increase on the previous year, because of the refurbishment of Buckingham Palace and the costs associated with the change of reign, as well as the impact of the Consumer Price Index rising by 10.1 per cent. These costs reduced the sovereign grant reserve by £20.7 million in the year 2022-23.

The 10-year £369 million project to repair Buckingham Palace had £34.5 million allocated this year, and the building work is expected to be completed a few years from now.

On average, about 500 royal household staff were being paid by the sovereign grant during the year.

Public funding also pays for royal travel and visits, with more than £1 million spent on 179 helicopter journeys.

Nearly £32,000 was spent when the King used the royal train for a two-day tour from Ayr to Manchester.

While £187,000 was used for the then Prince of Wales’s visit to Rwanda for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting – and £146,000 for the King’s tour of Germany on his inaugural state visit as monarch.

The royal family earned £9.8 million from paying visitors to royal residences, which is less than half of pre-Covid levels.

In separate accounts, the Duchy of Cornwall reported profits of about £24 million, in a transitional year during which Prince William replaced his father as the Prince of Wales.

The Keeper of the Privy Purse, Sir Michael Stevens, described this year as “an exceptional period of transition for the Royal Household”.

He said: “As we look back on those 12 months, we reflect on how the nation came together to celebrate the Platinum Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II in June, and to mourn Her Late Majesty in September while marking the accession of The King, as well as the months of preparation leading up to Their Majesties’ Coronation.

“In addition to these historically significant moments, this year saw the return of many events that had been missing from the calendar throughout the pandemic, including garden parties, Maundy, Garter, and of course the first inward and outward state visits of the King’s reign.

“More widely, the Household has adjusted to supporting the full and busy programmes of their Majesties, following a period during which in-person engagements were not possible.

“Like other organisations, the royal household has not been immune to the impacts of the joint challenges of the pandemic and inflationary pressures, which have resulted in a flat Sovereign Grant.

“The figure for the year remained unchanged at £86.3 million, with a significant proportion funding the reservicing of Buckingham Palace, which is now in its seventh year. This figure will remain unchanged at £86.3 million for the year 2023-24.”

However, starting in 2025, the Government will bump up the sovereign grant to £124.8 million and in 2026 it will become £126 million. This will be an increase of 45 per cent compared with the present.