Al rey Carlos III Problems accumulate and not just health problems. At 74 years old and in the midst of a fight against cancer since last March, the British monarch tries to keep a good distance from the scandal that haunts his brother. AndrésDuke of York, and that seems to have no end: from his relationship with the pedophile Jeffrey Epstein and the complaint for abusing a minor to the use of a false name to do business. However, he is now faced with a controversy from which he will not be able to escape: his salary increase.
It all started last July, when the king requested a considerable salary increase for the 2025-2026 fiscal year, an extra of 60 million dollars that represents 53% more than his current payroll: King Charles will go from earning 106 million euros to 164 million euros. The criticism was immediate and he justified it by referring to the multimillion-dollar renovation of Buckingham Palace (for which more than 300 million have already been used) and the renewal of the air fleet with which the royal family travels. This money comes from the so-called Sovereign Subsidy, a fund that is created with the contribution of taxpayers to finance the monarchy and which is added to the Crown State (the money that the Government allocates to the Crown, around 15%) and to the considerable benefits that the Windsors obtain thanks to their dukedoms.
The criticisms, many and very loud, failed to change Charles III’s mind and now that his salary increase is about to become effective (next April), the anti-monarchist association The Republic has launched an unprecedented campaign against Crown financing: “This is public money, money that comes from a government at a time when it cannot properly finance schools, hospitals, police forces… It is scandalous. Not only should spending not increase, but should be reduced”Republic CEO Graham Smith said in an interview for Town & Country.
The palace assures that the financing of the monarchy will be reviewed in the 2026-2027 parliamentary session to ensure that it is “appropriate”, but they are not giving up this year’s increase.
Abolition of duchies?
And this is not all. The private income of the King and Prince of Wales from the duchies of Lancaster and Cornwall are also in the spotlight. The reason? They are charging the NHS, the armed forces and charities rent to generate private income for the royals, as the documentary revealed last November Dispatches The King, The Prince and Their Secret Millions.
The journalist Richard Palmer, something like the British Jaime Peñafiel, is blunt: “We’re going to launch a campaign to abolish the dukedoms. I think the documentary really struck a chord and people were really quite angry about it.”
The king earned €32 million in the last financial year from the Duchy of Lancaster, while the Duchy of Cornwall provided the Prince of Wales with €28 million. Activists argue that the ducats (large portions of land) belong to the State and that the money should go to the Public Treasury. “The days of the royal family making 3,500 engagements a year are long gone, so the public is getting less for their money,” says Palmer. “I think the monarchy in general does a good job for the country and is part of the glue that binds us all together, but that doesn’t mean that as an institution, as individuals, they should be able to avoid criticism. They are not above scrutiny.”
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