As he ascends the British throne as Charles III, Elizabeth II’s eldest son also inherits his mother’s private fortune, which is valued at around €425 million. However, contrary to what happens with his subjects, he will not have to hand over a part of that amount to the tax authorities.
In the UK, inheritances worth £325,000 or more are subject to a 40% inheritance tax. Charles III is exempt thanks to rules passed in 1993. Under this determination, assets passed from a sovereign, or a sovereign’s consort, to the next monarch are exempt from inheritance tax.
According to France Presse, other definitions set out in a 2013 government memorandum of understanding also ensure that the monarch has his own private money and, therefore, his financial independence from the state.
The law does not require the values to be revealed, but the list of the richest Englishmen released in May this year by the Sunday Times newspaper (the Sunday Times Rich List 2022), estimates that the Queen’s fortune is around 370 million pounds ( BRL 2.209 billion). This amount is £5m higher than speculated in 2021.
Most of this wealth will pass to Charles without the British government receiving a single pound. He has a private fortune valued at around US$100 million.
As king, he will also receive the annual sovereign grant from the UK Treasury, which is set at 15% of the profits of the Crown Treasury, administered by the government by an agreement dating back to 1760.
The grant covers the costs of the official engagements of the monarch and other first-rate members of the royal family, paying the salaries of officials and the maintenance of the royal palaces.
The amount of the Crown Treasury includes commercial properties, real estate in prime central London locations, rural and coastal land across the country and waters around England and Wales. According to AFP, it is one of the biggest real estate empires in Europe, with a huge commercial interest in areas such as the development of wind energy production.
In the fiscal year to March 2022, the Crown Treasury recorded a net profit of £312.7 million (R$1.862 billion), up from £269.3 million in the previous fiscal year.
The great wealth of English monarchs is not the personal wealth of the king or queen, but the assets held by the monarchy as an institution. That is, the lands of the Crown, the royal collections of art and jewellery, the official residences and the Royal Archives.
The Crown Jewels, with an estimated value of at least 3 billion pounds sterling (R$17.91 billion), only symbolically belong to the monarch, and are automatically transferred to his successor.
As king, Charles inherits the Duchy of Lancaster, a private estate of commercial, agricultural and residential property, which has been in the possession of royalty since the Middle Ages. He will have the right to use his income, which largely goes to cover official expenses. In the 2021/2022 financial year, the Duchy of Lancaster secured a net surplus of £24 million.
On the other hand, with the accession to the throne, Charles III loses the Duchy of Cornwall, another private property, which last year made a profit of 23 million pounds (R$ 137.32 million). It now passes to William, the eldest son and first in line for the succession.
Source: CNN Brasil
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