Britain's King Charles not to live in Buckingham Palace after costly refit, reveals $17 million tax bill

Hind Al Soulia - Riyadh - LONDON —King Charles will not live at Buckingham Palace after its 10-year refurbishment finishes next year, ending nearly two centuries of the central London landmark serving as the British monarch’s primary residence.

Royal officials on Thursday also disclosed that the king paid £12.9 million ($17.04 million) in tax in 2024/25 — the first time the figure has been made public — placing him among Britain’s top 100 taxpayers, according to Reuters news agency.

Members of the royal family have promised greater transparency about their finances amid growing criticism after the death of Queen Elizabeth in 2022.

Charles decided to continue living at Clarence House, his longstanding London home nearby, when the £369 million refurbishment of Buckingham Palace concludes next year. The project includes replacing ageing electrical wiring, pipes and heating.

When work started in 2017, officials had expected the palace to remain the monarch’s primary London residence as it had been since Queen Victoria became sovereign in 1837.

James Chalmers, the king’s treasurer and keeper of the privy purse, said it would remain the primary venue for ceremonial and official functions including receiving foreign dignitaries.

“It is and will remain monarchy HQ, the crown jewel of our national buildings, with the sovereign’s standard flying proudly from the roof whenever his majesty is in London,” he told reporters.

Neither Charles nor the late Queen Elizabeth had stayed overnight at the palace since 2019. The king will maintain private rooms there that could be used as accommodation.

Some 700,000 people visit the building every year, and there will be greater public access, Chalmers said, without providing details.

By law, the British king is not obliged to pay income, capital gains or inheritance tax, but Charles, like his mother did after 1993, has voluntarily done so without disclosing the amounts.

Charles, like all monarchs since 1399, gets a private income from the vast Duchy of Lancaster estate as well as from his other holdings and investments.

Chalmers said the king paid £11.7 million in tax in 2023/24 and more than £30 million in taxes since becoming king in 2022.

He also receives money from the government, known as the Sovereign Grant, to pay for staff, royal palaces and travel. That amount will be £137.9 million in 2026/27.

But Chalmers said it would be cut for the first time in 2027/28 to £100 million “in line with his majesty’s clear wishes”, a level where it will stay until 2031/32.

That makes it almost £60 million higher than in 2016 when the funding formula was changed to pay for the Buckingham Palace refit. “This is not a blank cheque,” Chalmers said, adding there were safeguards in place to ensure the amount was proportional.

Prince William, heir to the throne, paid £7.76 million in tax in 2024/25 and instructed that £1.5 million in rent from a closed prison go to the local community, his office said. William and Charles have faced criticism that they are profiting from charging the army, health service and schools rent.

The change in publishing details of the King's personal tax comes after calls for greater transparency around royal finances, following scandals surrounding Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor.

MPs raised concerns about a lack of accountability over how public funding was used by the royals, and this shift in approach in the annual Palace accounts seems to reflect the public mood for more openness.