- Members of the British royal family don’t receive a traditional salary. They do receive funding from taxpayers and private estates to cover their expenses as working royals.
- They are otherwise supported by inherited wealth, private portfolios, and personal business ventures.
- Some royals who are not ‘working royals’ do not have their expenses covered by the Sovereign Grant.
The British royal family is estimated to be worth billions. Even though they don’t own Crown assets like Buckingham Palace, they have a private portfolio of properties, jewelry, art, and other valuables that keep their individual net worths in the seven-figure range.
Then there’s the Sovereign Grant, funded by taxpayers each year and used to support the monarch’s official duties. It’s how occupied palaces are maintained (like Buckingham Palace, which is undergoing a 10-year, $463 million renovation) and official engagements are funded, per NBC News. The outlet also reported that the Sovereign Grant would increase by approximately $60 million in the 2026-2027 year.
On top of the Sovereign Grant, a few royals receive income from inherited Duchies (landed estates which draw in millions of pounds each year). These funds are applied to private, official, and charitable expenses, including covering the costs incurred by other working royals. Charles’s Duchy of Lancaster, for example, is used “primarily to meet expenses incurred by other members of the Royal Family [besides Charles],” per the royal family’s official website.
The Crown finances are complex and not entirely public, but there is some available information about the ‘salaries’ and assets of certain family members. Below, find out which 5 royals are reportedly the highest-paid, and which don’t receive funding at all.
King Charles III
King Charles III during his visit to Guinness Open Gate Brewery London on December 18, 2025.
Chris Jackson/Getty Images
As you probably guessed, the monarch is the one with the largest wallet in the royal family. King Charles had an estimated net worth of £640m when The Sunday Times published its 2025 Rich List, ranking the U.K.’s wealthiest individuals. That’s equivalent to about $860 million. As for his salary, the King’s income from the Duchy of Lancaster in 2025 was £24.4m, or approximately $32 million, according to the Duchy’s official website.
Prince William
Princess Catherine and Prince William in May 2023 at Charles III’s coronation.
Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Images
When Prince William went from Duke of Cambridge to Prince of Wales following his father’s accession to the throne in 2022, he also inherited the Duchy of Cornwall. His 2025 income from the massive estate was in the eight-figure range, just below Charles’s. The Cornwall estate generated a surplus of £22.9 million, or $30.9 million (per the Duchy’s annual Integrated Impact Report). When William’s son, Prince George, becomes first in line to the throne, he will inherit the Duchy.
Prince Edward, Duke of Kent
Prince Edward, Duke of Kent during Trooping the Colour on June 2, 2022.
Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Images
The 90-year-old Prince Edward, first cousin of the late Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Kent, is one of the oldest working royals. He has received funding from the Sovereign Grant (formerly the Civil List) to cover his expenses as a working royal throughout his life. Per a 2023 investigation by The Guardian, Edward received an estimated lifetime total of £18m in official payments. That’s equivalent to $24 million, but considering the length of his service (which began in the 1960s), the amount pales in comparison to the annual incomes of William and Charles.
Anne, Princess Royal
Anne, Princess Royal on an official visit to Australia in November 2025.
AFP PHOTO/Pool/PATRICK HAMILTON
The same Guardian report approximated Anne, Princess Royal’s lifetime official payments as around £16.6m, or $22 million. These payments were made over the course of 51 years, from 1971 to 2022, meaning Anne’s annual working expenses (for example, the cost of staff and traveling for engagements) would be around $430,000. Considering she’s made more official appearances than any other living royal—with 11,088 events falling between 2002 and 2022, per The Guardian—the only daughter of the late Queen Elizabeth certainly earns her share.
Prince Edward, Duke of Edinburgh
Prince Edward, Duke of Edinburgh at Royal Ascot on June 19, 2025.
Samir Hussein/WireImage
Princess Anne and King Charles’s brother, Prince Edward, has received an estimated £6.5m since 1982 in his capacity as a working royal (via The Guardian). That’s equivalent to about $8.7 million, or roughly $217,500 a year to cover work expenses.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle haven’t received Sovereign Grant funding from the Crown since 2020.
Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, and Prince Harry in October 2025.
Kristina Bumphrey/Variety via Getty Images
While still a working royal, Prince Harry was funded like his brother through their father’s estate (the Duchy of Cornwall, which now belongs to William) and the Sovereign Grant. When he and wife Meghan Markle stepped down from their royal duties in 2020, however, the couple stopped receiving official payments through the Sovereign Grant—per their official website.
“While the contribution from The Sovereign Grant covers just five percent of costs for The Duke and Duchess and is specifically used for their official office expense, Their Royal Highnesses prefer to release this financial tie,” a statement on their website explained in 2020, outlining their transition to “members of the Royal Family with financial independence” made that year.
Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor stopped receiving Sovereign Grant funding in 2019.
Former Prince Andrew on April 20, 2025.
Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Images
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Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, formerly Prince Andrew, received official payments from 1978 to 2019 totaling £12.9m, per The Guardian’s estimate. In 2019, following his BBC Newsnight interview about his friendship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, he stepped back from his duties as a working royal and stopped receiving payments from the Sovereign Grant.