King Charles Makes Major Cuts To Royal Family, Reduces Expenses By $25M: Report
By fulfilling his pledge to streamline the monarchy, King Charles has successfully reduced costs by a substantial $25 million, benefiting taxpayers.
The king, 75, implemented various budget reduction strategies detailed in the annual Sovereign Grant to significantly cut the royal family's expenditures. In 2023, the royal family's expenses reached an unprecedented $138 million, according to financial reports.
Following significant budget cuts and adjustments in staff at various royal residences, the royal family's total expenditure decreased by 17%, now standing at $115 million.
Despite a challenging year marked by cancer diagnoses for both Charles and Kate Middleton, the royal family successfully attended 2,300 events within the UK and abroad.
According to the Sovereign Grant reports released on Wednesday, the royals spent $1 million on the celebrations for King Charles' coronation last year.
The energy crisis that impacted the nation in 2023 also affected the royal family, with Buckingham Palace facing a substantial increase of $1.3 million in its electricity costs.
King Charles, listed with a personal fortune of $770 million in the 2024 Sunday Times Rich List, has consistently expressed his intention to streamline the monarchy since he took the throne in September 2022.
The report also noted that Frogmore Cottage, once the residence of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, has remained vacant for over a year following their departure. Harry, 39, and Meghan, 42, left the luxurious five-bedroom cottage in June 2023.
The residence continues to be empty largely because Prince Andrew, King Charles' brother, declined to move in, reportedly finding it significantly smaller than his existing home, according to the 'New York Post.'
The decision to evict the Sussexes marked the initial phase of King Charles' efforts to reduce the monarchy's financial burden.
Although Charles advocates for a more streamlined monarchy, his sister, Princess Anne, has expressed reservations, suggesting she doesn't believe it to be a favorable approach.
"I think 'slimmed-down' was said in a day when there were a few more people around to make that seem like a justifiable comment," she stated in May 2023. "It doesn't sound like a good idea from where I'm standing... I'm not quite sure what else we can do."
Princess Anne, 73, argued that the royal family had already been sufficiently streamlined following Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's decision to step down as senior working members in 2020.
