King Charles III. Picture: Yui Mok/Pool via REUTERS
KING Charles is said to have amassed a £600 million (about R13.4 trillion) fortune that eclipses the riches of his late mother, Queen Elizabeth II.
The 74-year-old’s net worth has been estimated as part of “The Sunday Times” Rich List, which will be published next month, and will include 350 names.
If accurate, the king’s millions would eclipse the fortunes of David and Victoria Beckham, Sir Elton John and the Warburton bread-making dynasty.
It’s also higher than the queen’s net worth, which was last year calculated at £370m.
“The Sunday Times” reported: “One of Charles's former aides has described how the King carefully rebuilt his finances after his £17m divorce settlement from Diana, Princess of Wales in the mid-1990s.”
Charles is said to have saved the money through profits he received from the Duchy of Cornwall and earned money through housing developments, a range of biscuits and beer, as well as his lifestyle choices linked to environmentalism.
The monarch is renowned for switching off lights and in an interview with “Vogue” said he hated throwing anything away – especially clothes.
From 2011 to 2022, Charles is said to have increased profits from royal estates known as the Duchy of Cornwall by 42.6% to £25.4m.
More than three decades ago he also launched his “Duchy Originals” range, selling produce from his Highgrove House estate which have been sold through Harrods and Fortnum and Mason as well as Waitrose.
Charles owns the Crown Estate, which holds £15.6 billion of royal wealth, but cannot sell assets as the institution is independent of the royal family.
Royal writer Roberrt Hardman explained that Charles was not as wealthy as some people thought.
“A lot of people do get confused about the royal finances – wrongly thinking (the royal family) personally own the Crown Estate and the duchies.
“In all honesty their financial arrangements really aren’t as complex as many royal families and rulers in other countries, which are often far more opaque,” Hardman said.
“Our monarchy really isn’t as wealthy as many people would believe. I certainly don’t think the king is a billionaire.”
It is not clear how much exactly Charles was given by his father, Prince Philip, as Philip’s will was not made public.
The sealed will of the queen, who died in September at the age of 96 at her Balmoral estate in Scotland, was placed in a safe in London together with more than 30 wills of other senior royals who have died since 1910.
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