King Charles will receive a huge inheritance after his mother’s death – but it may not be as big as many think. The British monarchy has assets estimated at around $27 billion, mostly in real estate, including a number of castles and palaces. The King, like his mother Queen Elizabeth before him, and his successors after, receive income from many of the assets. However, they do not have personal, legal ownership of these assets, so they cannot sell them. Instead, the assets are held by various quasi-public duchies and estates, each with its own officers and boards of directors, with financial reports published annually. The duchies and estates throw off the income, much of which goes to the government, with a not inconsiderable amount given to members of the royal family. Queen Elizabeth’s personal net worth – most of which should go to King Charles, free of inheritance tax – is less well known. But two US news organizations, which measure the wealth of the world’s richest people, have taken a stab at his estimate. Charles III is King of Canada. Now what? Latest updates on the royal succession Queen Elizabeth, who reigned longer than any other British monarch, dies aged 96 Forbes, which has for years published a list of the world’s richest people, estimated her net worth at $500 million last year. The figure includes cash and investments, other assets such as art and jewellery, and two properties she personally owned: Sandringham House, which was bought by King Edward VII in the 1860s, and Balmoral Castle, which was acquired by Prince Albert, her husband of Queen Victoria, in the 1850s. . It was at Balmoral Castle that the Queen died on Thursday. In 2016, Forbes reported that a Czech luxury real estate broker specializing in historic buildings estimated Sandringham House to be worth $65 million and Balmoral Castle at least $140 million. How much is the monarchy worth? Value of Crown holdings. In billions of US dollars The Duchy of Cornwall: $1.2 The Duchy of Lancaster, $757 The Crown Estate of Scotland: $573 The values of Buckingham and Kensington Palaces are Forbes estimates from March, 2021. All other holdings are net asset values taken from the most recent annual reports and converted to USD at 1.16 per lb. the globe and mail, Source: FORBES; annual reports How much is the monarchy worth? Value of Crown holdings. In billions of US dollars The Duchy of Cornwall: $1.2 The Duchy of Lancaster, $757 The Crown Estate of Scotland: $573 The values of Buckingham and Kensington Palaces are Forbes estimates from March, 2021. All other holdings are net asset values taken from the most recent annual reports and converted to USD at 1.16 per lb. the globe and mail, Source: FORBES; annual reports How much is the monarchy worth? Value of Crown holdings. In billions of US dollars The Duchy of Cornwall: $1.2 The Duchy of Lancaster, $757 The Crown Estate of Scotland: $,573 Buckingham and Kensington Palace values are Forbes estimates as of March 2021. All other holdings are net asset values from the most recent annual reports and converted to USD at 1.16 per lb. the globe and mail, Source: FORBES; annual reports Bloomberg, which has also developed a ranking of the world’s rich, estimated the Queen’s fortune at US$400 million. As part of the calculations, Bloomberg used a 1971 statement from her former private secretary, John Colville, which estimated her fortune at £2m, and a BBC report on her inheritance of £70m from the Queen Mother in 2002 and adjusted both numbers for inflation. Bloomberg also estimated the value of her horses and stamp collection, believed to be the largest in the world. Unlike Sandringham House and Balmoral Castle, Buckingham Palace and Kensington Palace are not personally owned by the royal family. As of March 2021, Forbes estimated the value of Buckingham Palace at US$4.9 billion. In 2016, however, he acknowledged that the property “is a residence that most experts describe as almost impossible to value”, saying the palace had been “widely valued within the £1bn range”. (A British pound closed Friday at about US$1.16.) Forbes estimated Kensington Palace at $630 million in March 2021. With net assets of £16.46 billion as of March 31, the Crown Estate is the largest of the four entities holding royal property not personally owned by the family. It is an independent trading company, established by Act of Parliament in 1961, to manage land and seabed holdings around England, Wales and Northern Ireland. It posted profits of £313m in the 12 months ended March 31, and says it has contributed £3bn to the public purse over the past decade. In Canada’s King Charles he can expect a very different monarch The Crown Estate puts 15 percent of its profits into what’s called the Sovereign Grant, money that goes to the Royal Family. The money – £86.3m over the past two years, according to the BBC – is used to pay for royal duties, events and travel. Last year, the BBC said, almost 2,300 formal pledges were made. Other, smaller entities separate from the Crown Estate include:
The Duchy of Cornwall, created in 1337 by Edward III to provide an income for his son, Prince Edward. It had net assets of £1.05 billion as of March 31, including farmland, commercial and residential properties and some smaller royal family residences. It produced £23m in distributable profits for Charles in the 12 months ending 31 March. (Duke of Cornwall is a title traditionally held by the eldest son of Britain’s reigning monarch, which will now pass to Prince William.) The Duchy of Lancaster, a collection of commercial and residential properties considered the personal property of the reigning monarch since 1399, although the assets are held in trust for future monarchs, so the reigning king or queen cannot access his capital . Its income – £24m in the 12 months ending March 31 – pays for the royal family’s private expenses through an allowance called the Privy Purse. The royal family pays income taxes on the distribution. The duchy had net assets of £652.8m as at 31 March. Crown Estate Scotland, legally established as a separate entity in 2019, is a mix of land, property and things like wild salmon fishing rights. It had £494.3m in assets as at 31 March 2021. (It has yet to report its most recent financial year results.) It generated £11.5m in the year ending March 2021 for the exchequer.
