Having become King of the United Kingdom, Charles III saw his personal fortune increase considerably due to the inheritance affected following the death of Elizabeth II. What does he hold? Lighting attempt.
It is a secret as well kept as that of his health. In the United Kingdom, the fortune of Charles III is the subject of much speculation, all the more since the death of Elizabeth II. If the sovereign was already very rich, the new monarch would be even more so, in insane proportions. The subject is all the more sensitive as the British face price inflation of more than 10% over the year. On his throne, the king does not feel anything happening given his (supposed) colossal fortune.
Assumed because no figures are public. Nothing is released regarding the Buckingham tenant’s income. And never does the communication from the royal palace confirm or invalidate the data put forward. Supposed also because it is not always easy to make the distinction between what belongs to Charles in a personal capacity and what he holds because of his prerogatives within the monarchy. However, at the age of 75, Charles III had a comfortable financial well-being, reinforced by the inheritance obtained on the death of his mother. How is its heritage constituted? The Guardian attempted to unravel this mystery, aided by “12 experts experienced in valuing land, property, vehicles, art and jewelry. For more opaque assets, such as the king’s investments in stocks and stocks, we relied on the best indices available to make educated guesses.”
Real estate and investments:
- Duchy of Lancaster : 740 million euros in assets. This is a private estate of 18,500 hectares made up of numerous lands located in England and Wales, as well as various buildings including a business center in London. Each year, the profits generated allow the monarch to receive around 23 million euros.
- Balmoral Castle and Estate : 91 million euros. This residence of the British royal family, located in Scotland, is the place where Queen Elizabeth II died. It is a private property of 21,725 hectares owned by Charles III.
- Sandringham Estate : 285 million euros. Located in the east of England, this site is also a royal family residence privately owned by the King. Covering an area of 8,400 hectares, it includes rental residences and commercial leases. This area also includes 6,400 hectares of agricultural land.
- Investments : 162 million euros, at least. This is a ‘significant underestimate’ by the Guardian as it is only based on assumptions related to data from 1993 of holdings in some of the London Stock Exchange’s 100 largest companies. and which have been reassessed in the light of the evolution of corporate profits.
Horses and stamps that are expensive:
- 70 thoroughbred : 30 million euros. Elizabeth II loved horses and owned a personal stable which would have brought her around 8 million pounds during her reign, according to the equestrian site myracing.com, quoted by AFP. Charles III inherited it but has already sold horses for 2.6 million euros.
- Stamp collection : 114 million euros. Charles also became the holder of a large collection of stamps, inherited from his great-grandfather, the sovereign had a collection of “hundreds of thousands of stamps” according to the Guardian and “is considered the best collection of stamps in the world”. world”.
Art and jewelry, a central part of her fortune:
- Works of art : 27 million euros for 60 pieces. The heritage of Charles III also consists of many paintings, the value of which cannot be precisely defined. They were accumulated through gifts obtained during trips abroad. Some were also purchased. However, it is impossible to accurately estimate the value of the private collection since all the works held are not known (at least 400 pieces according to the Guardian). No more than the prices at which they could be sold, with the exception of the 60 “most significant” works estimated by experts commissioned by the Guardian.
- Jewelry : 606 million euros for 54 pieces. As with the paintings, it is very difficult to accurately assess Charles III’s heritage in this area. First, because the entire collection is not known and their value can easily vary during a sale, with multipliers that can be close to 20 compared to the starting price. The Guardian opted for a “more conservative” estimate, based on “ten times intrinsic value.”
What is the estimated fortune of Charles III?
The addition of all these assets thus leads to a result of more than two billion euros of assets in favor of Charles III. However, this remains only assessments and does not take into account other income. For its part, Buckingham Palace replied that “although we do not comment on private finances, your figures (those of the Guardian, editor’s note) are a very creative mixture of speculation, assumptions and inaccuracies.”
Another patrimony can, only in part, be added to this private patrimony of the sovereign, whether it isElizabeth II or of his son Charles III: “The crown estate”, is the gigantic fortune of the British Crown this time, including a “colossal park of land, real estate, wind farm licenses” indicates AFP. The revenue from this heritage is paid into the Treasury, but 15% directly benefits the royal family through the “sovereign grant”, an annual allowance intended to cover “expenses related to official activities representing the Queen or members of his family”, in particular the 500 employees placed at their service. This reached 86 million pounds, or 99 million euros, for 2021-2022. But this sum includes an exceptional extension granted for ten years for the renovation of Buckingham Palace (34 million pounds for 2021-2022).
Other subsidies are planned for the crown and for the royal family in general, which should now directly benefit Charles III. The “privy purse” thus designates a share of the revenue drawn from the assets of the Duchy of Lancaster. An area comprising “hundreds of real estate, high-end commercial properties, and thousands of hectares of agricultural land”, writes AFP again. Assets that have been the property of royalty since the Middle Ages. Estimated at 650 million pounds, the Duchy of Lancaster would have offered an income of around 24 million pounds to Queen Elizabeth during the last fiscal year. A sum that she could, after taxes, redistribute as she pleased to other members of her family or use to maintain and restore her castles of Balmoral and Sandringham.
Valued at some 3 billion pounds, the famous Crown Jewels, for their part, symbolically belong to the Queen but are automatically passed on to the next monarch.
The British royal family has a privilege which exempts them from paying royalties succession. Similarly, the content of inheritances is not made public. This tax exemption comes from Queen Elizabeth II, in 1993. Indeed, in the early 90s, a fire broke out in Windsor Castle. Following a controversy over who was going to pay for the renovations, the Queen agreed to be taxed on income, which is not normally the case for the royal family. This allowed him to negotiate a tax shelter in 1993, which Charles benefits from today.
The assets of the Crown Estate are estimated at €17.9 billion, with 25% of the profits going to the Royal Family under the Sovereign Grant. Also, these goods cannot be sold by the king and are ceded to the government in exchange for a subsidy. As such, the government of John Major, Prime Minister between 1990 and 1997, had concluded that it would be “inappropriate for inheritance tax to be paid for these assets.” Regarding the Queen’s private heritage, it benefits from the exemption in order to preserve “a certain degree of financial independence vis-à-vis the government in place”, he had indicated.
However, this exemption only benefits Charles III, the other children of the queen will have to free themselves from this right of succession. The new king has also indicated that he will pay his income taxes, even if nothing obliges him to do so.