Meanwhile, increases to the Sovereign Grant come under a new formula for calculating it, which will see the Royal Household receive £99.9m a year from 2027-2028. Three years ago, the figure was £51.8m.
The higher figure was decided upon by Royal Trustees – Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, Chancellor Rachel Reeves and the King’s keeper of the Privy Purse and treasurer James Chalmers.
The extra money will be used to pay for the upkeep of historic buildings, strengthen cyber security at royal residences and support the transition to green energy, with £11m earmarked to replace boilers at Windsor Castle.
Chalmers insisted the funding was “not a blank cheque” and that there were strict checks to ensure the grant was value for money.
“Expenditure is governed by the same standards and disciplines as any publicly funded body, with strict value-for-money requirements, detailed planning, multi-year strategies, independent audit and Treasury oversight,” he said.
For the past 10 years, the Sovereign Grant has been at a higher level than its core sum to cover the £370m costs of refurbishing Buckingham Palace, which will be completed by the end of 2027.
With the work finished, the annual figure will fall to a core fund of £99.9m – a sum that will remain unchanged for the following five years, when it will next be reviewed – but will still be significantly higher than previous years.
“It is important to emphasise that the Sovereign Grant does not provide personal income to members of the Royal Family,” Chalmers said. “It funds the work of the institution – not private lives or private wealth.”