Despite his plans to streamline the bloated institution before his death, King Charles is now presiding over the most expensive monarchy in Europe, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
That’s according to a new investigation that charts a dramatic rise in public funding and private wealth across the Windsor family.
The claims are forensically set out in Royal Mint, National Debt: The Shocking Truth about the Royals’ Finances, a new book by author Norman Baker, which argues Britain’s royal household has grown into a uniquely costly institution, and RadarOnline.com has seen all the figures backing that up.
Baker’s book traces the modern system of royal finance from its origins in 1760, when George III handed over Crown Estate revenues in exchange for a civil list of $1.02million a year – a sum now replaced by the sovereign grant.
That grant has surged from $10million in 2011 to $167.8million in 2025, a compound annual growth rate of more than 22 percent.
Baker notes even once other historic costs are included, annual funding for the British monarchy has still more than quadrupled since 2011.
Charles’ personal wealth is estimated at up to $2.29billion, while the family controls 250,000 acres through estates such as Balmoral and Sandringham and the Duchies of Lancaster and Cornwall.
A senior source familiar with the book’s research claimed: “What shocks people is not just how high the headline figure is, but how relentlessly it has risen. There is deep concern that the monarchy has become structurally more expensive at the very moment it claims to be modernizing.”
Another insider added: “The scale of hidden costs contributes to a picture far out of line with other European monarchies. People examining the data say Britain is running an imperial-era model no one else maintains.”
Britain’s public cost of maintaining its monarchy is now $167.8million, compared with $58.4million in the Netherlands, $30.5million in Norway, $15.9million in Belgium, $14.6million in Sweden, $13.7million in Denmark, and $9.4million in Spain.
Even these numbers may understate the true differences, Baker argues, as the U.K.’s unique exemptions – including inheritance tax immunity and the treatment of the Duchies – conceal vast additional expenses.
Republic, the anti-monarchy group, estimated in 2024 the real annual cost to the public for the monarchy exceeded $635million, factoring in security, palace maintenance, and lost profits.
Baker’s book also highlights a 53 percent rise in the sovereign grant in 2025 alone, attributed to the ongoing $456million refurbishment of Buckingham Palace.
It follows an earlier increase from 15 percent to 25 percent of Crown Estate profits in 2017, also justified by refurbishment costs.
Yet palace documents had previously indicated that between $40.6million and $69.8million would be sufficient to clear the backlog of maintenance across all royal residences.
Royal events have added further financial strain. Charles’ coronation cost at least $91.4million – a figure the Republic places as high as $317.5million – while Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral cost $205.7million.
Major events, including Prince Philip’s funeral, the weddings of Harry and Meghan and Eugenie, and the Platinum Jubilee, have all contributed to rising public expenditure.
In contrast, across Europe, monarchies have reduced costs and embedded themselves within democratic structures.
Dutch, Danish, and Swedish royal households have stripped titles, paid tax, or voluntarily refunded income, while offering far more transparency over spending.
But Britain’s monarchy has maintained antiquated privileges and traditions, including eye-wateringly expensive coronations no other European royal family now performs.
As the sovereign grant climbs and the Crown Estate continues to deliver record profits, critics say the gap between Britain’s monarchy and its counterparts will only widen.
