Queen Elizabeth II had a $500 million personal fortune. but she also receives money from the government, too.
Even if you’ve watched Netflix’s “The Crown” there are plenty of unanswered questions. For starters, how does the Royal Family make money and where does it come from? Are Harry and Megan still on a salary?
Here’s everything you need to know about the Royal business.
Who pays for the Royal Family and their operations?
The Royal family makes money through public and private resources. Most of the late Queen Elizabeth II’s annual income came from three sources.
- The Sovereign Grant
Running Buckingham Palace costs a lot of money and the maintenance cost is paid for by this grant. The funding for this expense account comes from a percentage of the profits of the Crown Estate revenue,” the monarchy’s website explained.
CNN News defined it as a collection of properties and farms in the U.K. that generate income in income and are a part of the Crown Estate.
2. The Privy Purse
The former is a collection “of properties and assets that have been held in trust dating back to the 14th century,” Fortune Magazine reported in a Tweet.
A part of the portfolio is Duchy of Lancaster, consisting of “land, property and assets held in trust for the Sovereign in his/her role as Sovereign,” the official website states. “It is administered separately from the Crown Estates.”
3. Duchy of Cornwall
The Price of Wales also receives a salary that is mostly funded by the Duchy of Cornwall, one of the largest and oldest estates in Britain.
The former Prince of Wales Charles and Camilla received nearly $30 million from the asset.
“The majority of staff and official and charitable work, including the official offices of The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and The Duke and Duchess of Sussex activity, are paid for from His Royal Highness’s private income from the Duchy of Cornwall,” the 2020 annual review stated, which totaled over $6 million.
As I previously reported, the monarch doesn’t pay income tax, capital gains or inheritance tax.
Do Harry and Megan get paid by the crown?
The couple stepped back from their royal duties back in 2020.
“We intend to step back as ‘senior’ members of the Royal Family and work to become financially independent, while continuing to fully support Her Majesty The Queen,” the announcement posted to Instagram stated.
But Harry revealed that the two had been cut off long before and had been living off his mother Princess Diana’s inheritance. The two have lucrative Netflix and Spotify deals.