What does King Charles do?

King Charles and Queen Camilla's circuit of Australia has reignited the statement astir the relation of the monarchy successful the country.

The sojourn is the King's biggest overseas travel since helium began attraction for crab successful February.

He resumed nationalist duties successful April aft a impermanent intermission pursuing his diagnosis.

King Charles was diagnosed with crab successful February 2024, and began attraction soon afterwards.

Although helium withdrew from nationalist events successful the weeks aft his crab was revealed, the King continued with his law relation arsenic caput of state, completing paperwork and holding backstage meetings.

His play sessions with the premier curate besides carried on.

The King's archetypal large nationalist quality aft his diagnosis was connected Easter Sunday, when helium and the Queen greeted crowds aft a religion work successful Windsor.

He resumed his nationalist duties astatine the extremity of April, erstwhile helium visited a crab attraction centre with Queen Camilla.

He besides made a astonishment sojourn to an service barracks successful Hampshire, where helium joked astir having been "allowed retired of my cage".

In June helium attended the Trooping of the Colour ceremony, wherever Catherine, Princess of Wales, made her overmuch anticipated archetypal nationalist quality after her ain crab diagnosis.

The King is the UK caput of state, but his powers are mostly symbolic and ceremonial. He remains politically neutral.

He receives regular dispatches from the authorities successful a reddish leather box, including briefings up of important meetings, oregon documents needing his signature.

The premier curate usually meets the King connected a Wednesday astatine Buckingham Palace.

These meetings are wholly private, and nary authoritative records are kept of what is said.

He besides leads the yearly Remembrance lawsuit successful November astatine the Cenotaph successful London.

As good arsenic hosting visiting heads of state, the King regularly meets overseas ambassadors and precocious commissioners, and carries retired regular overseas visits.

The King is besides caput of the Commonwealth, an relation of 56 autarkic countries spanning 2.5 cardinal people.

He is caput of authorities for 14 of these, known arsenic the Commonwealth realms, arsenic good arsenic the Crown dependencies - the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man.

Charles besides confers official honours connected radical from each walks of life, successful nationalist designation of their merit, work oregon bravery. Most honours are awarded astatine caller twelvemonth and connected the monarch's authoritative birthday, successful June.

The King is besides patron to a fig of organisations,, external including the RNLI, the Samaritans, RAF Museum, the Yorkshire Agricultural Society, the Penny Brohn crab charity and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Society, Orchestra and Choir.

The Queen besides holds a fig of patronages, including the Royal Literary Fund, the Royal Academy of Dance, the Royal Voluntary Service and the Army Benevolent Fund, and undertakes her ain nationalist engagements., external

The King and Queen are successful Australia from 18 to 26 October earlier travelling to Samoa for the Commonwealth heads of authorities gathering (CHOGM).

An accompanying travel to New Zealand was scrapped aft aesculapian advice, and the King's itinerary volition beryllium paced to instrumentality relationship of his health.

The sojourn has prompted further treatment astir the aboriginal of the monarchy successful Australia. A 1999 referendum failed to triumph a bulk for becoming a republic, but nationalist enactment for the question has grown since then.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is simply a semipermanent republican, but his authorities enactment plans to clasp different ballot connected crystal successful January 2024, saying it was nary longer a precedence issue.

When helium addressed the Australian parliament, the King was heckled by Aboriginal legislator Lidia Thorpe, who accused him of genocide.

He was not her king oregon "of this land", she told BBC News.

Some Indigenous leaders criticised her protest, after a drafting depicting the King beheaded alongside his crown appeared, briefly, connected her social-media account.

The legislator aboriginal apologised, saying it had been posted by a unit subordinate without her knowledge.

Ahead of the trip, the King said the question of "whether Australia becomes a republic" was a "matter for the Australian nationalist to decide".

The bid of succession sets retired which subordinate of the Royal Family takes implicit arsenic monarch erstwhile the existing 1 dies oregon abdicates.

First successful enactment - the heir to the throne - is the monarch's eldest child. Sons nary longer instrumentality precedence implicit their older sisters.

King Charles's heir is his elder son, the Prince of Wales.

William's eldest kid Prince George, is second-in-line to the throne, and his girl Princess Charlotte is third. Her younger member Prince Louis is 4th and Prince Harry is fifth.

The Royal Family receives an yearly outgo from the taxpayer, known arsenic the Sovereign Grant, which is utilized to wage for authoritative expenses, specified arsenic the upkeep of properties and unit costs.

The magnitude is based connected a proportionality of the profits of the Crown Estate,, external a £15.5bn spot concern owned by the monarch, but tally independently.

The Sovereign Grant is worthy £86.3m for 2024-2025, arsenic it was successful the erstwhile 3 years, though the Royal Family's full spending was more, with the quality covered by reserves.

To support the yearly outgo astatine the aforesaid level, the assistance is present a smaller percent of Crown Estate profits, external.

But those profits person present been boosted by six caller offshore upwind farms, making the assistance worthy £132m successful 2025-26 - adjacent nether the reduced formula.

Without the reduction, the monarchy would person received £275m.

The King besides receives wealth from a backstage property called the Duchy of Lancaster,, external which is passed down from monarch to monarch. It covers much than 18,000 hectares of land, including spot successful cardinal London. Worth £646m, it generated £27.4m successful profits successful the twelvemonth to 31 March 2024.

The Duke of Cornwall (currently William, Prince of Wales) benefits from the Duchy of Cornwall,, external which chiefly owns onshore successful the south-west of England. Worth £1.1bn, it generated a nett surplus of £23.6m successful the twelvemonth to 31 March 2024.

The King and William person the profits from the duchies personally, and tin walk the wealth arsenic they wish. Both voluntarily wage income taxation connected the proceeds.

Some Royal Family members person backstage art, jewellery and stamp collections which they tin merchantability oregon usage to make income arsenic they wish.

The King and Queen's authoritative residence, Buckingham Palace, is having a 10-year £369m refurbishment. As a result, they divided their clip betwixt Clarence House successful London and Highgrove successful Gloucestershire.

Other Royal residences, external see Windsor Castle, Sandringham successful Norfolk, the Palace of Holyroodhouse successful Edinburgh and Balmoral Castle successful Aberdeenshire.

In August 2022, the Prince and Princess of Wales moved from Kensington Palace successful westbound London to unrecorded successful Adelaide Cottage, connected the Windsor Estate.

A 2023 YouGov sentiment canvass of much than 2,000 adults successful Britain up of the archetypal day of Queen Elizabeth's decease suggested a crisp generational divide.

Overall, 62% wanted to support the monarchy, with 26% backing an elected caput of authorities - up from 17% a decennary earlier.

But portion 80% of the over-65s supported the monarchy, lone 37% of 18-to-24-year-olds agreed.

There was besides little enactment for the royals successful Scotland oregon Wales than successful England.