In many ways it’s sometimes not so great to be a British royal – with the paparazzi and the scandals and all that, but sometimes it is – especially when you are inheriting an estate worth about $1.2 billion dollars.
Prince William, the son of the new King Charles III (successor to Queen Elizabeth II, who died last week), will inherit the 685-year-old Duchy of Cornwall estate from his father. The estate stretches over 140,000 acres in southwestern England.
Although the Queen’s will is not going to be made public (unless, of course, there is a leak), it is estimated that she was worth about a half a billion dollars in personal assets, such as jewelry, art, investments and her two residences – Balmoral Castle and Sandringham House (both inherited from King George VI, her father).
Most of the royal family’s fortune, which is estimated to be about $21 billion, consisting of property and investments, is inherited by the new king and his heir. Although Charles has two sons, Prince William is in the line of succession to the throne.
Prince William is now Prince of Wales and the Duke of Cornwall.
A lot of the profit from the estates owned by the royal family goes to the British government, but neither Prince William or King Charles are obliged to pay tax on their estates. They have, in their favor, voluntarily paid tax since 1993, partly due to public outcry.
According to the website of the Duke of Cornwall (formerly Charles, now William), money earned from the estate helps fund “public, private and charitable activities.”
King Charles has other estates that will be inherited by William, and even though money goes to the government and there are restrictions on spending, the royal family manages to carve out a slice for their own use.
It is reported that in 2021, the Duke of Cornwall, Charles, paid himself $25 million from the Cornwall estate.
William is also likely to inherit money from his grandmother, Queen Elizabeth.
Sounds like it’s not a royal pain in the you-know-what to be a royal.
