King Charles reveals £12.9m tax bill in historic disclosure

King Charles III paid £12.9 million in tax for 2024-25, and Buckingham Palace made the figure public alongside the annual royal finances accounts. It was the first time a reigning British monarch had revealed a personal tax bill.

The disclosure showed that Charles has paid more than £30 million in personal tax since becoming monarch in September 2022. That total included £11.7 million for 2023-24 and £12.9 million for 2024-25, placing the King among the United Kingdom’s top 100 taxpayers. Buckingham Palace said the move was intended to improve transparency and public understanding of royal finances.

The King’s private income comes from the Duchy of Lancaster, the historic estate and investment portfolio that supports his personal finances. The Duchy of Lancaster annual report for the year ended 31 March 2025 said its net asset value rose to £678.7 million, up from £647.6 million a year earlier. Reporting around the new disclosure also put the Duchy’s annual income to the King at about £25.2 million to £26.8 million in the latest financial year.

The publication of the tax figure arrived against a backdrop of renewed scrutiny over how the monarchy is funded. The Sovereign Grant, which pays for official royal duties and the maintenance of occupied royal palaces, was set at £132.1 million for 2025-26, under a formula determined by the Royal Trustees and linked to the Crown Estate’s income account surplus. That public funding system is separate from the King’s private income, a distinction that has long shaped debate over royal wealth and spending.

The disclosure also marked a formal extension of a practice that began under Charles and Queen Elizabeth II in 1993, when they voluntarily started paying income tax and capital gains tax after criticism over royal finances. Monarchs are not legally required to pay certain taxes, but the latest announcement moved that long-standing convention into the open and increased pressure for further disclosure about assets, exemptions and the wider flow of money around the monarchy.