Commons Library confirms record £137.9m UK Sovereign Grant for 2026-27, with statutory 'reset' looming from 2027-28

The House of Commons Library published its updated 'Finances of the Monarchy' research briefing (CBP-9807) on 5 June 2026, authored by David Torrance and Lorna Booth, confirming the UK Sovereign Grant rises to a record £137.9 million in 2026-27, up from £132.1 million in 2025-26. The Grant is set at 12% of Crown Estate profits, with the calculation linked to the Crown Estate's income-account net surplus of £1,149 million (£1.149 billion) for 2024-25.

The elevated figure is largely a function of the ten-year, £369 million Buckingham Palace Reservicing programme begun in 2017: the Royal Trustees' report (HM Treasury, signed by PM Keir Starmer, Chancellor Rachel Reeves and James Chalmers) notes the increase in the final two years is needed to deliver the remaining £100.3 million of reservicing work. The briefing confirms the government's stated intention to bring forward a Sovereign Grant Bill 2026-27 to 'reset' (lower) the Grant from 2027-28 once the palace works complete, and to introduce a mechanism allowing future reductions to prevent 'inappropriately high funding.' The Grant is reviewed every five years, with the latest review commencing in 2026.

The briefing also details additional Crown income streams outside the Grant: the King's Privy Purse income from the Duchy of Lancaster and the Prince of Wales's net profits from the Duchy of Cornwall, both independently audited. The story crystallizes the central civil-list tension: a near-trebling of the Grant in real terms over 14 years against a backdrop of UK public-sector austerity and cost-of-living pressure.