The Royal Family receives an annual payment from the Treasury, known as the Sovereign Grant, external, which is used to pay for official expenses, such as the upkeep of properties and staff costs.
The amount of public funding is calculated as a proportion of the profits of the Crown Estate, external, a £15bn property business which is independently run.
When it was introduced in 2012, the Sovereign Grant was initially set at 15% of Crown Estate profits, but in 2016 this was increased to 25% to cover the cost of a 10-year £369m programme to modernise Buckingham Palace.
The percentage has since reduced to 12% but an increase in Crown Estate profits from assets including offshore wind farms means the cash value of the grant has grown.
In 2012, the Sovereign Grant was worth £31m a year. By 2021-22, this had increased to £86.3m, and it remained at this level until 2024-2025.
But it rose to £132m in 2025-26 – even under the reduced formula.
Buckingham Palace said the big increase was due to the element of the grant that pays for the building works, rather than the “core” grant which covers other running costs.
It told the BBC that “it has always been anticipated that the level of the Sovereign Grant will drop once the project is completed” in 2026-27.
In July 2024, the National Audit Office said the programme had been well-run and delivers “good value for money”, external.
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‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.bbc.co.uk ’
