What is King Charles' net worth?
King Charles' net worth is $800 million. King Charles is the constitutional monarch of sixteen realms of the 53-member Commonwealth of Nations and the Head of the Commonwealth and Supreme Governor of the Church of England. He is the eldest son of the late Queen Elizabeth II and the late Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. Charles had a net worth of $100 million before ascending to the throne as King. It should also be noted that while he is commonly referred to as the King of England, Charles is actually the King of the United Kingdom which includes England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales.
Prior to becoming King, Charles earned the bulk of his income from a real estate trust called the Duchy of Cornwall. This trust was established in 1337 to provide income to the Prince of Wales and his family. The Duchy of Cornwall is inherited by the eldest son of the reigning monarch. The estate owns significant real estate including cottages, sea side estates, countryside manors, barns converted to homes, and even rental properties. In a typical year Charles earned around $20-30 million from the trust, typically through rents and agricultural sales.
Charles served in the Royal Navy and Air Force, and attended the Royal Air Force College in Cranwell, training as a jet pilot. He then attended the Royal Naval College Dartmouth for a six week training course. After that he served on the HMS Norfolk, HMS Minerva, and the HMS Jupiter. He also joined the 845 Naval Air Squadron, and has operated a HMS Hermes, and took command of the HMS Bronington. He is qualified to fly Chipmunk Basic Pilot Trainer, a Harrier T MK.4 V/STOL fighter jet and several other aircraft.
Charles was formerly married to the late Diana, Princess of Wales. He is the father of Prince William and Prince Harry. He is currently married to Camilla Parker Bowles, who became known as Queen Consort upon his ascension to the throne.
Early Life
Charles was born at Buckingham Palace in 1948. He was baptized by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Geoffrey Fisher, with water from the River Jordan. He had several Godparents, which included grandparents, aunts and cousins.
For the first 73 years of his life up until his mother died in September 2022, he was referred to as Prince Charles, or more formally, Charles, Prince of Wales.
Education
Charles was made heir apparent at age three when his mother became Queen. At that time he was given the title Duke of Cornwall. After being taught his lessons by governess, Catherine Peebles, for three years, he attended Hill House School in West London. He then went on to Cheam Preparatory School in Berkshire, England. His father, Prince Philip had attended that school in his youth. He went from there to Gordonstoun, which he hated. His complaint was that it was just too cold in kilts. He also spent two terms at Geelong Grammar School in Geelong, Australia and became Head Boy, just like his father. He left in 1967 and did quite well in History and French, with an A level.
He then went straight from secondary school to Trinity College Cambridge, and took classes in history, anthropology, and archaeology. He graduated in 1970 with a 2.2 Bachelor of Arts degree. He also received a Masters of Arts Degree from Cambridge and studied the Welsh Language at the University of Wales, Aberystwyth.
Prince of Wales
In 1969, Charles was crowned Prince of Wales, and Earl of Chester. In 1976, he founded the Prince's Trust, and traveled to the United States. Charles was the oldest to hold the title of Prince of Wales, as well as being the oldest and longest serving heir apparent. Charles was offered the Romanian throne, but turned it down.
Military Service
Charles served in the Royal Navy and Air Force, and attended the Royal Air Force College in Cranwell, training as a jet pilot. He then attended the Royal Naval College Dartmouth for a six week training course. After that he served on the HMS Norfolk, HMS Minerva, and the HMS Jupiter. He also joined the 845 Naval Air Squadron, and has operated a HMS Hermes, and took command of the HMS Bronington. He is qualified to fly Chipmunk Basic Pilot Trainer, a Harrier T MK.4 V/STOL fighter jet and several other aircraft.
(Photo by Chris Jackson – WPA Pool /Getty Images)
Personal Life
Not only did Charles have a very active military life, but he had a very busy love life too. He was quite the man with the ladies. He was advised by the first Earl Mountbatten of Burma, to have as many affairs as possible before getting married, but when it comes to choosing a wife, be sure she a sweet, inexperienced and suitable.
He met Lady Diana Frances Spencer at her home, while visiting her sister Sarah. After spending some time together, Charles began to consider asking for Lady Diana's hand in marriage. Despite a few objections, Charles did propose and they were married in 1981. They had two children, Prince William and Prince Harry. Although some believe Prince Harry to be the son of James Hewitt, he has stated that the affair he had with Lady Diana was after Henry's birth.
The marriage of Lady Diana and Prince Charles ended in 1996. His second marriage was to Camilla Parker-Bowles, a woman it is said to have been having an affair with Charles while he was still married to Lady Diana. Charles was the first member of the Royal Family to have a civil wedding instead of a religious one.
The Duchy Of Cornwall Trust
According to British royal law, the eldest child of the reigning monarch inherits possession of the Duchy of Cornwall. This title is essentially a large real estate portfolio that allows the Prince to have a substantial income. The Duchy was established in 1337 by Edward III to provide income for the heir apparent. When Charles became King in 2022, Prince William automatically became Prince of Wales and beneficiary of the Cornwall Trust. When William becomes King, his son George will inherit the trust. And so on.
The U.K. government considers the trust a "crown body" which therefore means its income can not be taxed. The tax-exempt status has been challenged several times and as a result Charles has voluntarily paid taxes on the income since 1993. He voluntarily paid a 50% tax rate on the income for about a decade. He started paying 25% when he got married in 1991. From 1993 to the present he has paid the standard UK income tax rate each year.
The duchy owns 133,000 acres of land in the UK over 23 counties. The land is used for farming, residential housing and commercial real estate. Today, the estimated value of the land is $1.1 billion.
In a typical year the trust produces a little over $20 million in income. In some years the income has topped $30 million. Charles uses the funds to provide a salary for his wife and children.
The Crown Estate
The Crown Estate is another real estate portfolio that is not owned by either Charles or the government. If he did own the Crown Estate personally, King Charles' net worth would easily top $25 billion, which would make him one of the richest people in the world. And while he may not own the Crown Estate, he does profit from its income. In a given year, the Crown Estate produces around $20 million in income for Charles. Another real estate portfolio called the Duchy of Lancaster, produces an income of $30 million per year. Through an entity called the Sovereign Grant, Charles takes 25% of the income produced by the Crown Estate to pay for her family's expenses such as travel, housekeeping and IT costs.
Furthermore, Charles possesses – but does not own – the Royal Collection Trust. The Royal Collection Trust holds the Royal family's art and other priceless works. The trust owns over 1 million objects, most notably 7,000 paintings by artists including like Rembrandt and Leonadro da Vinci. The Royal Collection Trust's collection is easily worth at least $1 billion.
Philanthropy
King Charles has been an active philanthropist through the Prince of Wales' Charitable Foundation. Founded in 1979, it is one of largest independent foundations active in the United Kingdom. The foundation oversees grants for such Eco-friendly and sustainability programs as the International Sustainability Unit and the Prince of Wales's Accounting for Sustainability Project. Over the past decade, he has awarded more than $72.5 million in grants. One of the beneficiaries of the Prince's foundation is Tusk, an organization dedicated to stopping poaching in Africa. Both Prince William and Prince Harry have also worked with this organization.
