The Guardian has been publishing a number of pieces calling out the Royal Family for their role in the slave trade as well as renting out property and so on.
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The latest is the amount of money that King Charles inherited from his mother and how he was able to avoid the inheritance tax. Indeed, according to The Guardian, King Charles has a private fortune estimated at £1.8 billion.
With the help of experts, The Guardian was able to give a somewhat detailed itinerary of King Charles’ private fortune. The only issue is that it can be difficult to differentiate what is privately owned by the King and what belongs to the Crown.
King Charles believed private fortune
It is believed that the King has around £6m in cars alone, from Rolls-Royces, and Bentleys to Jaguars. Then King Charles inherited Balmoral and Sandringham from the late Queen. Balmoral is estimated to be worth £80m while Sandringham is valued at £250m. So in property, King Charles has roughly £330m.
We all know that the Queen was a big fan of horses and bred her own. These horses were passed down to her son. The King now owns 70 thoroughbreds worth around £27m. Then there is the Queen’s private stamp collection, which is believed to be the largest collection in the world. This alone is worth £100m.
The Royal Family also has private jewels, which the collection was started by the late Queen’s grandmother, Queen Mary. They were valued at £533m in 1989 and have not been revalued since.
Then there is the King’s Duchy of Lancaster which is deemed ‘private’ income and pays Charles around £20m a year. The Duchy itself is estimated to be worth £653m.
Finally, the King has a number of paintings, including Monet. It is believed his art collection is worth £24m. The money that is the most mysterious and hard to determine, is the King’s investments. These are kept private, but The Guardian has estimated around £142m in shares.
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King Charles has released a statement about his fortune
In a surprising turn of events, King Charles’ spokesperson has released a statement after The Guardian's report on the Monarch’s fortune. They said:
While we do not comment on private finances, your figures are a highly creative mix of speculation, assumption and inaccuracy.
The release of a statement is rather shocking as the Royal Family’s motto is ‘never complain, never explain’ and the fact that King Charles has released one goes against it.
When further questioned, Buckingham Palace refused to give a number concerning King Charles’ private fortune and simply said that the personal finances of the royals ‘should remain private, as they do for any other individual.’
The statement is even more so shocking as the King has kept quiet during the whole business with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s Netflix documentary and his son’s memoir Spare.
Read more ⋙ King Charles' coronation to feature two crowns, one is estimated to be worth £5 billion
Sources used:
The Guardian: ‘Revealed: King Charles’s private fortune estimated at £1.8bn’
