Charles to replace helicopters as soaring crown income revealed – royal news latest

The monarchy is to obtain a lift of greater than £45 million, with a 53% bounce in its official annual revenue to greater than £130 million.

Hovering earnings from the Crown Property to £1.1 billion imply the taxpayer-funded Sovereign Grant, which helps the official duties of the royal household, will enhance from £86.3 million in 2024/2025 to £132 million in 2025/2026.

Officers stated the rise might be used to assist fund the ultimate levels of the 10-year £369 million renovation of Buckingham Palace, conserving it on time and funds.

The enhance might be reviewed by way of laws in 2026/27 to maintain funding of the royal household at a “extra applicable” degree, a Palace spokesman stated.

Photo voltaic panels are one of many eco-friendly measures already in place at Windsor Citadel, put in this yr in substitute the outdated lead roof.

The work was a part of £16.6m spent on property upkeep tasks – which additionally noticed the elimination of asbestos from Buckingham Palace mews and structural repairs to the Salisbury Tower.

“Out went the leaking lead roof and in got here the Citadel’s first photo voltaic panels – simply one in every of quite a few environmental initiatives, pushed by a willpower to position sustainability on the coronary heart of our operations and impressed by His Majesty’s management on this sphere,” Sir Michael Stevens, Keeper of the Privy Purse stated.

Sir Michael additionally described the brand new developments as “small steps, however a part of a a lot wider plan to make a big impression on our carbon emissions within the years forward”.

On Buckingham Palace grounds, fuel lantern are being repurposed with electrical fittings to “enhance their power effectivity whereas preserving their historic look and glow.”

The historic lanterns have been switched off throughout the current power disaster as a cost-saving measure however whereas shift to electrical energy could also be extra eco-friendly, the palace’s electrical invoice continues to soar.

The 2024 royal electrical invoice sat at £2.2m, up from £1.3m in 2023. A palace spokesperson attributed this to a change in tariff made in October 2023.

Expenditure on fuel nonetheless did decline, with £1.2m having been spent in 2024 in comparison with £1.4m the earlier yr.

It has been a tough yr for the royal household, with each Charles and Kate having to step again from public-facing duties as they proceed remedy.

The pair supported one another by way of the tough information however have additionally had loads of assist from outdoors palace partitions, with the palace having acquired a staggering 27,000 written messages wishing them good well being.

Charles was pictured studying among the 27,000 playing cards in June and was reportedly “dropped at tears” by the messages despatched from throughout the nation.

Many individuals have been stated to have written to inform him of their very own experiences of the illness or providing recommendation. One individual advised him: “Chin up, chest out, stay optimistic and don’t let it get you down. Belief me, it really works, however the principle factor is household.”

Within the annual Sovereign Grant report, launched on Wednesday, the palace stated assist groups “tailored swiftly” to the altering well being circumstances in methods which included coping with much more mail.

The BBC presenter who interviewed Meghan and Harry upon their engagement has responded to claims that the sit down felt like a “orchestrated actuality present”.

Mishal Husain was one of many unlikely figures caught within the crossfire of the couple’s 2022 Netflix documentary collection, during which Meghan made the remark.

The BBC host has now stated she “didn’t know what to make” of the declare as she revealed the couple appeared sure of their future.

“When the Duchess of Sussex stated that my engagement interview along with her and Harry was an ‘orchestrated actuality present’ I didn’t know what to make of it,” she wrote within the August subject of Saga journal.

“They appeared to have thought by way of what their new lives could be like and what marriage would imply for her life particularly.”

She added: “There was nothing that pointed to what would occur. It was two individuals who have been filled with pleasure in one another and life.”

The Sovereign Grant report revealed journey expenditure went up by £300,000 at a invoice of £4.2m regardless of there being round 400 fewer visits and fewer international journey than the yr earlier than.

My colleague Alexander Butler has the total story:

The royal household made few international journeys within the yr to March 2024, maybe reflecting a necessity to remain nearer to dwelling throughout a interval during which each the King and the Princess of Wales hung out in hospital for most cancers remedy.

There are 27 separate journeys by royal relations listed within the official report for 2023/24 the place journey prices have been no less than £17,000, solely eight of which concerned the King.

This contains the costliest journey within the 12 months to March 2024, the five-day state go to by the King and Queen to Kenya in October and November 2023, which had journey prices totalling £166,557.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s former dwelling, Frogmore Cottage, stays empty greater than a yr after they formally vacated the property.

Palace officers on the annual Sovereign Grant briefing stated there have been no new tenants within the Grade II Crown Property property in Windsor Dwelling Park.

It has been stated that Harry has stayed in a resort on current visits to the UK, quite than at a royal residence.

The Sussexes have been requested to maneuver any remaining possessions out of their UK dwelling near Windsor Citadel in 2023, simply weeks after the duke criticised his household in his controversial memoir Spare.

A Palace official stated: “Through the yr, Frogmore Cottage has remained empty.

“I don’t suppose, at this level, I might speculate on who would be the future occupants of the cottage.”

He added: “The Sovereign Grant has been totally reimbursed for the refurbishment prices of Frogmore cottage when it was initially supplied to the Duke and Duchess of Sussex and, due to this fact, there isn’t any price to the Sovereign Grant aside from some routine upkeep, however it will be required for any of the buildings.”

Revenue from the royal household’s land and property holdings greater than doubled to a document £1.1 billion final yr, pushed by a short-term enhance from offshore wind farms.

The Crown Property owns the overwhelming majority of Britain’s seabed, stretching as much as 12 nautical miles from the mainland, and leases a part of it to wind farm operators.

The spike in earnings was primarily right down to choice charges, funds made by corporations to order a patch of the seabed to finally construct their wind generators on.

The latest spherical of offshore wind leasing noticed the Crown Property grant licences for 3 wind farms within the North Sea and three within the Irish Sea.

When the wind farms develop into operational, these charges are changed by extra common, much less profitable funds to the Crown Property, primarily based on how a lot power and income the generators generate.

Chief govt Dan Labbad known as the choice price uplift a “short-term optimistic impression” for this yr and subsequent, earlier than a “normalisation” in earnings in 2026 and past.

Mr Labbad added that the Crown Property is getting ready to lease extra land for wind farms within the coming years, however that the charges might be much less profitable due to market adjustments.

The Crown Property has simply over 11 gigawatts of producing capability throughout 36 offshore wind farms, however is getting ready so as to add one other 20 to 30 gigawatts by 2030, he stated.