When people think of royalty, sparkling tiaras, glittering state banquets, grand royal residences and designer wardrobes often come to mind. While there's more to the British monarchy than these images of wealth, they may leave some wondering: how exactly does the royal family make their money?
As HELLO!'s Royal Editor Emily Nash points out: "There are strict boundaries in place for senior working members of the royal family when it comes to earning money," noting that "being an official working royal means they can't take on commercial deals or endorsements."
Unlike Meghan Markle and Prince Harry, who have earned income through deals with Netflix and previously Spotify, along with ventures and appearances, since stepping back from royal duties, working members of the royal family, including King Charles, Queen Camilla and the Prince and Princess of Wales, are supported through a mix of public and private funding.
Although "royal finances can sometimes appear complex," James Chalmers, the Keeper of the Privy Purse, who is responsible for the management of the monarch's financial affairs, has noted that "the underlying system is clear in principle, structured in law and refined over time to ensure the Monarch can serve with independence, accountability and in the long-term interests of the nation."
The King
For the King, there are three main sources of funding, one of them being the Sovereign Grant. This public money from His Majesty's Treasury is provided by the government to the royal household to cover the monarch's official expenditures. In return, the sovereign surrenders the Crown Estate's revenue account profit to the government.
The Sovereign Grant does not provide members of the royal family with personal income. Instead, it's used to support the monarch's official duties as head of state, as well as staff costs, His Majesty's household's running expenses, the maintenance of Occupied Royal Palaces in England and travel undertaken by working royals representing the monarch on official engagements. The 2025-2026 Sovereign Grant Report, which outlines the royal family's public funding for the year, revealed that Their Majesties and other working royals completed 2,273 engagements across the UK and overseas.
The Royal Trustees, comprised of the Prime Minister, the Chancellor of the Exchequer and the Keeper of the Privy Purse, determine the percentage of the Crown Estate profits used to calculate the annual Sovereign Grant. The grant increased to £132.1 million (about $177,045,704) for the 2025-2026 financial year, marking its first rise since 2021-2022. More than half of the funding was allocated to the preservation and protection of Occupied Royal Palaces. Payroll and other staff costs amounted to £37 million (around $49,583,700), while travel cost £5.1 million (about $6,834,510).
The grant is set to rise again, to £137.9 million ($184,799,790), for the 2026-2027 financial year to fund the final year of the Buckingham Palace Reservicing Programme.
© Ben STANSALL / POOL / AFP via Getty ImagesFollowing the publication of the 2025-2026 Sovereign Grant Report in June 2026, the Keeper of the Privy Purse, James Chalmers, said: "Just as previous reigns helped steady the nation through moments of profound change, so too does the role of the modern monarchy continue to adapt to meet the demands of our evolving world, one in which the soft power of the Royal Family plays an increasingly vital diplomatic role."
“In this and every aspect of his duty, His Majesty is guided by a singular purpose – to serve with constancy, devotion and unwavering resolve. So, while much changes, our central principles remain: to deliver value for money and to support the Royal Family as they seek to help shape a better world, here in the United Kingdom, across the Commonwealth and beyond. A future in which tradition and modernity work hand-in-hand for the benefit of all."
In addition to the Sovereign Grant, the King has an independent source of income from the Duchy of Lancaster. The privately managed estate, founded in the 13th century, is a portfolio of land, property and assets held in trust for the Sovereign. The income from the Duchy of Lancaster, known as the Privy Purse, is used to pay for the King's official spending that's not covered by the Sovereign Grant, along with costs for his private residences and the personal income of working members of the royal family, excluding the Prince and Princess of Wales.
The royal family's website notes that the Privy Purse "primarily" meets expenses incurred by other royal family members. The Duchy of Lancaster's assets were valued at £687 million ($920,717,400) for the 2025-2026 financial year, generating a net revenue surplus of £25.2 million ($33,773,040). According to the UK government, the Privy Purse in 2025–2026 was £21.2 million.
Separate from the Sovereign Grant and Privy Purse, the King also has private income from private assets, investments and privately owned estates, including Balmoral and Sandringham. His Majesty's net worth is estimated to be £680 million ($910,411,200). The King is said to have become "prudent at tucking away some money from the Duchy" following his divorce from Princess Diana.
The Prince and Princess of Wales
While Prince William does not receive money from the Duchy of Lancaster, there is another estate that "predominantly" funds his "life and work." The Duchy of Cornwall, one of the largest and oldest estates in Britain, covers the official costs of the Prince and Princess of Wales that are not covered by the Sovereign Grant, in addition to personal residences, private expenses and charitable activities.
The Duchy of Cornwall was established by King Edward III in 1337 to provide the heir to the throne with an income from its assets. Prince William became the Duke of Cornwall and took over the stewardship of the Duchy of Cornwall upon his father's ascension to the throne in 2022. The estate spans more than 100,00 acres and is estimated to be worth over $1 billion.
© Chris Jackson/Getty ImagesThe Duchy of Cornwall's distributable surplus for 2025-2026 was £21.6 million, equivalent to about $28,936,656. The financial year has been described as "one of strategy development and strategic investment."
Per the 2026 Integrated Impact Report, the Duchy of Cornwall's "financial performance reflects the strength of the Duchy's core portfolio and the resilience it provides."
The report stated that returns across its "commercial, rural and residential assets have broadly tracked market conditions, while careful management" has allowed the Duchy "to maintain stable underlying income." It also noted that "a dip in our surplus reflects a deliberate strategic choice to invest, significantly, in building the organisation's capacity and capability over the coming years to deliver a more ambitious agenda."
In the latest report's foreword, the Duke of Cornwall wrote that "the Duchy must continue to be financially resilient, ensuring that its assets are managed prudently and sustainably. This long term outlook enables us to invest with confidence in the future – in our communities, in nature, and in the people who are at the heart of our work."
The Prince of Wales, who does not have access to the Duchy's capital value, pays a tax on the income he receives from the estate. William is reported to be one of Britain's top taxpayers, paying £7.76 million ($10,396,110) in taxes, despite not being legally required to do so.
When asked in 2023 how much he had in his "bank account," the future King laughed, replying that he "didn't know."
Working royals
Other members of the royal family, including Princess Anne, Prince Edward and the Duchess of Edinburgh, receive an income as working royals. The money is provided through the Duchy of Lancaster. Apart from the Privy Purse, some costs are funded by the Sovereign Grant. "If they are working on behalf of the Crown, the cost of undertaking their official duties, such as travel, is covered by the Sovereign Grant," HELLO!'s Emily Nash says.
Before becoming a full-time working royal, Prince Edward pursued a career outside of the institution. In 1993, Queen Elizabeth's youngest child founded the television production company Ardent Productions. Edward ended up leaving in 2002 to support the monarch full-time.
Royals who have been cut off
Harry and Meghan took the opposite path, stepping back from their roles as senior working royals in 2020. Following their decision to step back from royal duties, it was confirmed that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex would no longer receive funding through the Sovereign Grant. Back when King Charles was the Duke of Cornwall, Meghan and Harry also received funding via the Duchy of Cornwall.
© BENJAMIN CREMEL/AFP via Getty ImagesIn his memoir Spare, Harry opened up about his father withdrawing his financial support. The Duke of Sussex penned: "I recognized the absurdity, a man in his mid-thirties being financially cut off by his father. But Pa wasn’t merely my father, he was my boss, my banker, my comptroller, keeper of the purse strings throughout my adult life. Cutting me off therefore meant firing me, without redundancy pay, and casting me into the void after a lifetime of service. More, after a lifetime of rendering me otherwise unemployable."
Meghan and Harry were said to be "financially independent" in 2021, with a Clarence House spokesperson revealing that Charles had "allocated a substantial sum to support" the Sussexes with their transition, and that the funding had "ceased in the summer of" 2020.
Another royal family member has since lost funding from the King, too. Years after stepping back from public duties, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor was reportedly cut off financially by his older brother. According to Robert Hardman, author of Charles III: New King. New Court. The Inside Story, the Keeper of the Privy Purse was instructed to sever the disgraced former Duke of York's living allowance in 2024 .
Prince Harry claimed in his memoir that before he proposed to Meghan, his father had said there was "not enough money to go around." The Prince wrote in Spare: "Pa didn't financially support Willy and me, and our families, out of any largesse. That was his job. That was the whole deal. We agreed to serve the monarch, go wherever we were sent, do whatever we were told, surrender our autonomy, keep our hands and feet inside the gilded cage at all times, and in exchange the keepers of the cage agreed to feed and clothe us. Was Pa, with all his millions from the hugely lucrative Duchy of Cornwall, trying to say that our captivity was starting to cost him a bit too much?"
The 2025-2026 Sovereign Grant and Sovereign Grant Reserve Annual Report and Accounts notes that the King "voluntarily supports" relatives by "funding certain official costs and private allowances from his private resources."
Though she receives funding from the King, the Duchess of Edinburgh has spoken about the possibility of her and Prince Edward's children, Lady Louise and James, Earl of Wessex, needing to one day earn their own income. Speaking to The Sunday Times about her kids in 2020, Sophie said: "We try to bring them up with the understanding they are very likely to have to work for a living."
In the end, being a working royal is a job, and like any job, it comes with pay and expenses. For the British royals, how those finances work depends on their role within the family and place in the line of succession.
