For as long as history serves the royals have been associated with the regal trappings of being one tier higher than the upper class.
King Charles III therefore will not just take his mother's place on the throne, but he will also inherit £35bln in assets too.
So where does the King’s fortune come from?
The Crown Estate
When Queen Elizabeth passed last year one of the largest sources of her wealth, The Crown Estate, was transferred to the new King, as tradition requires.
With assets of £16.5bln as of March 2022, the crown estate splits into four different divisions.
These are:
- Central London (£7.7bln) which includes the whole of Regents Street and parts of the West End.
- Regional (£1.7bln) with assets across the country like Atwood House in Birmingham and Aintree shopping park in Liverpool.
- Marine (£5bln) covering vast areas of the seabed around the country used for offering leases to various wind farm companies.
- Windsor & Rural (£1.2bln) made up of more than 191,000 acres of land from the Windsor Estate
Revenues were £490mln in the twelve months to March 2022, with all profits going to the British Treasury.
King Charles then receives his cut of the earnings in the form of a Sovereign Grant, which equals 25% of profits from the estate.
In 2022 the Sovereign Grant would have amounted to around £122mln, of which 10% goes to Buckingham Palace refurbishments and 15% is allocated to financing the royal family’s activities such as travel and housekeeping.
This would have meant last year the monarch earnt around £92mln – tax-free – from the crown estate.
The King and Queen consort Birthday source Royal.uk
Duchy of Lancaster
The private estate, founded in the 13 century, is another fund the King has inherited.
It contains assets like 18,000 hectares of land across the country and urban properties including the Savoy estate in London.
The assets were worth £652.8mln as of March 2022 and produced pre-tax revenues of £24mln last year.
These go directly to the King in an allowance called the Privy Purse.
Charles is required to pay income tax on this after the Queen agreed in 1993 to pay a levy on the earnings.
The Crown Holdings
This includes eleven former and current royal residences such as Buckingham Palace and Charles’ former residence Clarence House.
These are estimated to be worth US$9.5bln in total, with Buckingham Palace valued at US$4.9bln alone.
It also comprises the Royal Collection, which includes the Crown Jewels - valued at around US$4bln by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors.
The Crown Jewels are kept in the Tower of London Source Royal Collection Trust
The collection also includes famous artworks by the likes of Da Vinci, Rembrandt, and Vermeer – estimated to be valued at US$12.7bln.
The Queens personal assets
Charles’s fortune doesn’t stop there, the King also inherited the Queen’s assets which include residences like Balmoral – estimated at US$118mln – personal investments, jewellery, and horses.
Balmoral Castle, one of the Queen's favourite residences Source CN Traveler
Also passed down was the Royal Philatelic Collection, which includes a massive collection of British and Commonwealth stamps.
These assets are estimated to be worth US$500mln in total.
Other Incomes
The King also inherited the Crown Estate of Scotland, worth around US$570mln in net assets, this includes Scottish seabeds, rural estates, and the right to fish wild salmon.
The late Duke of Edinburgh also will have likely handed down his private art collection worth around US$2.3mln, with Charles also potentially inheriting some of the vast collection of cars and watches owned by the Royals.