Perhaps one of the first questions we ask ourselves when a monarch dies is: what will be his condition? Or: how many zeros will there be on a bank statement? Or even: how much are all the items you bought?
Queen Elizabeth II died earlier this month at the age of 96 and, according to the British newspaper The Sunday Times, she was the owner of a personal fortune valued this year at £370 million, about €427 million, “more than five million more than in 2021.” “. Thus King Charles III (his successor) inherited from his mother not only the throne of the United Kingdom, but also a personal fortune “which he would receive without payment of inheritance tax, in the privilege reserved for royal transmissions”. Most of this wealth would go to Charles and the British government would not receive a single pound sterling.
From sovereign to sovereign
According to CNN, in the United Kingdom, inheritance of assets worth more than £325,000, that is, €373,000, is subject to a 40% inheritance tax. However, Carlos III will not have to transfer this amount to the kingdom’s finances thanks to rules approved in 1993, which provide for an exclusive regime for the heir to the crown when he receives the personal assets of the previous monarch. Under these rules, assets transferred from the sovereign or from the sovereign’s spouse to the next monarch are “exempt from inheritance tax”. In addition, the rules set out in the 2013 government memorandum of understanding also ensure “that the monarch has his own personal money and therefore his financial independence from the state.”
Charles’ estate includes assets such as Balmoral Castle in Scotland (where Elizabeth II died and is a summer retreat for the British royal family); The residence at Sandringham in England becomes the private property of the British monarch and is known as the place where the family usually celebrates the passing year. In addition, Isabella II had a large stock portfolio and a collection of royal stamps valued at £100m, about 115m euros, according to The Times last year. The famous British Crown Jewels, valued at around £3bn (around €3.5m), also automatically passed to his successor.
Charles III also inherited the Duchy of Lancaster – a royal property since the Middle Ages – which brought the British monarch a private income of £24 million, about €27 million, in the last financial year. The Duchy of Lancaster collected the private heritage of British kings for six centuries. According to El País, its main goal is to provide monarchs with a source of income independent of the sovereign subsidy, a budgetary line provided by the state to carry out their official functions. Despite this, with accession to the throne, Charles loses the duchy of Cornwall, which belongs to the eldest son of the British monarch and which brings about 21 million pounds, about 24 million euros, a year.
To all this will be added the personal fortune of Carlos, estimated at about $ 100 million.
According to CNN, Carlos will also receive an annual “sovereign grant” from the British Treasury of 15 per cent of crown asset income, which for 2021-2022 reaches around 100 million euros, with an additional share of more than 34 million euros. million pounds sterling, about 40 million euros, for the reconstruction of Buckingham Palace in London. This sovereign grant is used “to finance the expenses associated with the official representation of the head of state or members of his family”, including staff salaries, maintenance and cleaning of palaces, official travel and receptions.
In addition, you will also own a portfolio of the Crown Estate – one of the largest real estate empires in Europe – which includes commercial property, including property in prime locations in central London, rural and coastal land across the country and even the waters around England and Wales. .