King Charles and Prince William make unprecedented tax disclosure

King Charles has become the first British monarch to reveal how much tax he pays, disclosing a payment of £12.9 million to HM Revenue & Customs for the 2024-25 financial year, Royal Central reported on June 25.

The outlet characterised the disclosure as unprecedented, and its headline indicates that Prince William formed part of the announcement alongside the King. The available material does not, however, set out what figures, if any, were published on the Prince's behalf.

On the record, per Royal Central, are the £12.9 million payment and the King's status as the first monarch to reveal how much tax he pays. The mechanism of the disclosure, the tax treatment applied, and the detail of Prince William's involvement remain unverified in the material before this wire.

Background

The sovereign is not legally liable to taxation; the Crown's exemption is a settled feature of UK law. Since 1993, however, under a memorandum of understanding agreed by Queen Elizabeth II after sustained public pressure, the monarch has voluntarily paid income tax and capital gains tax on private income — with the amounts kept private. Disclosure of an actual figure would therefore mark a departure of substance, not merely of style, in royal financial practice.

The monarch's private income flows chiefly from the Duchy of Lancaster, the historic portfolio of land and assets held for the sovereign, while the heir to the throne draws private income from the Duchy of Cornwall. Both duchies publish accounts, but the tax paid on their surpluses has never been itemised publicly. Official royal duties are separately funded through the Sovereign Grant, reported to Parliament annually — the one corner of royal finance already subject to routine published scrutiny.

Calls for fuller openness about royal money have recurred for decades, from parliamentary committees, campaigners and the press.

What comes next

What to watch is whether the disclosure is institutionalised — repeated in future years and extended to the heir with published figures — or stands as a one-off gesture. The mechanism used, not detailed in the material here, would indicate which: a commitment embedded in the household's regular financial reporting would carry more weight than a single statement.