The Royal Family has been around for centuries now but in today’s world, how exactly do they get paid? The working members of the Institution have a lot of public appearances and engagements to attend.
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Currently, the working Royals include King Charles, Queen Camilla, Princess Anne and Prince Edward and his wife Sophie, the Duchess of Edinburgh. In the younger generation there is only Prince William and Princess Kate since King Charles decided to slim down the monarchy.
However, there is also the older generation, such as the Duke of Kent, Princess Alexandra and the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester that are working Royals. It is rumoured that their appearance at the King’s coronation will be their last as they retire.
What is a working Royal in the Royal Family?
As reported by Newsweek, a working member of the Royal Family is:
The working royals are senior members of the family who undertake a program of official duties and engagements on behalf of the crown throughout the year.
In total, there are 11 working Royals, all stated above. Marketing analyzer Reboot SEO Company published a list of how many engagements each working Royal attended in 2022 and for some, the number is impressive.
Princess Anne, 72, underwent 214 engagements in 2022. She is the senior member with the most public engagements in 2022, yes even more than King Charles. Despite all of her public appearances, Princess Anne refuses to shake people's hands for a specific reason.
King Charles took part in 181 public engagements in 2022. In the last year of the late Queen’s life, then-Prince Charles took over a lot of his mother’s commitments as she experienced ‘mobility issues’ as stated by the Palace. Indeed Charles had to step in for his mother for the Commonwealth Games in 2022.
Read more:King Charles receives new blow as Royal Family loses over £12 million of income in past three years
Read more:
⋙ King Charles' coronation sparks new controversy as Princess Beatrice and Eugenie could be excluded
How do working Royals get paid in the Royal Family?
The income of a working member of the Royal Family can vary. For example, Prince William and Princess Kate earn an annual salary from the Duchy of Cornwall.
For the rest of the working Royals, King Charles privately pays them thanks to a system enacted by Queen Elizabeth, as reported by Newsweek.
According to Forbes, the Royal Family Institute is a ‘$28 billion empire that pumps hundreds of millions of pounds into the United Kingdom’s economy every year.’
The Royal Family get paid through the Crown Estate, which is owned by the reigning monarch, in this case, King Charles. Forbes reported that by the end of the fiscal year in March 2020, the Crown Estate made $475 million in profit.
75% of this profit is given to the British Treasury, but the remaining 25% is given to the Royals known as the Sovereign Grant.
Sources used:
Newsweek: ‘Who Are the Working Royals? From the King to Kate Middleton’
Cosmopolitan: ‘Here's Exactly How Much You'd Get Paid Working for the British Royal Family’
Forbes: ‘Inside ‘The Firm’: How The Royal Family’s $28 Billion Money Machine Really Works’
