Royals really cost £510m, anti-monarchists say

The existent outgo of the Royal Family to taxpayers is £510m a twelvemonth - astir six times much than the £86m of authorities backing from the yearly Sovereign Grant - anti-monarchy campaigners say.

The Sovereign Grant covers costs specified arsenic staffing, question and the upkeep of royal buildings - but not security, for example.

And for information alone, the Republic radical says - portion calling connected the authorities to supply a definitive fig - £150m is "indicative of a apt cost" based connected property reports.

Keeper of the Privy Purse Sir Michael Stevens, who looks aft the King's fiscal affairs, has antecedently spoken of the "determination to present worth for money" successful royal finances.

But Republic main enforcement Graham Smith said: "How tin we speech astir cutting the wintertime substance allowance portion wasting fractional a cardinal pounds connected the royals?"

The group's £510m fig besides includes "lost income", specified arsenic the £96m a twelvemonth commercialized gross it says could travel from royal residences.

It besides says the duchies of Lancaster and Cornwall's spot businesses should beryllium paying into the nationalist purse alternatively than backing the King and the Prince of Wales respectively, with the payer losing retired connected £99m per year.

Republic attacks the existent backing for the royals arsenic opaque and secretive and a "scandalous maltreatment of nationalist money".

A caput of authorities should person moving costs of £5m-£10m a year, it says, and the King should person an yearly wage of £189,000, with increases pegged to that of the premier minister.

Buckingham Palace has declined to respond.

But the latest accounts for the Sovereign Grant, published successful July, amusement authorities backing for the Royal Household volition stay astatine £86.3m for 2024-25 and emergence to £132m successful 2025-26.

The level of backing is calculated against the profits of the Crown Estate, with adjacent year's emergence reflecting accrued income from offshore upwind farms.

"This is present the 3rd twelvemonth for which the Sovereign Grant has not accrued by 1 azygous penny, contempt the supplementary costs incurred by the alteration of reign and contempt the double-digit inflationary pressures that person impacted connected goods and services for each organisations successful that aforesaid period," Sir Michael said earlier this year.

"What has remained changeless is the determination to present worth for wealth successful ensuring the Royal Family are capable to service our communities to the champion of their abilities, adjacent successful hard idiosyncratic circumstances."

As good arsenic costs, determination are besides harder-to-measure economical benefits from the royals, specified arsenic boosting tourism and supporting overseas trade.

Last month, 55% of those surveyed by YouGov viewed the monarchy arsenic bully worth for money, portion 30% saw it arsenic mediocre value.

• The instauration was seen positively by 59%, negatively by 32%
• The King was seen positively by 63%, negatively by 29%

But beneath these header figures, determination are important divides, peculiarly successful presumption of property groups, with enactment for the monarchy strongest among older radical and absorption strongest among the young.