Royal Finance: The monarchy will receive an additional £45 million in funding

The monarchy is expected to receive an additional £45 million due to high profits from the royal estate.

The increase in income comes from a significant increase in profits from the property, due to the construction of six new offshore wind farms.

Profits from the Crown Estate rose to £1.1 billion, which in turn will lead to a rise in the Sovereign Grant, which pays the running costs of the Royal Household.

Officials said the grant would rise from £86.3m in 2024/25 to £132m in 2025/26 – which would help pay for the final stages of the renovation of Buckingham Palace.

The annual financial report also revealed the royal family’s plans to buy two new helicopters and that the Duke and Duchess’s former home, Frogmore Cottage, remains empty a year after they left.

Last year, equity financing fell from 25% to 12% of Crown net profits due to higher expected income from offshore wind farms.

Instead, the king wanted these profits to be used for the greater good of the public.

Had this not happened, the property would have received £275m in 2025 and 2026.

But now the sovereign grant – based on two years’ worth of arrears – will be £132m.

A Royal Household spokesman said legislation in 2026/27 would review the Royal Family’s funding to ensure it remained at a “more appropriate” level.

The Sovereign Grant pays for official visits and accommodation, funded by taxpayers, in exchange for the King giving up his income from the Crown Estate.

The annual accounts – delayed by a month because of the general election – revealed that the family will get two new helicopters next year, to replace the current two which have been in use for 15 years.

The report said the planes were a “key element” in enabling the King and the Royal Family to carry out their engagements, allowing them access to remote areas of the UK.

A number of new, more environmentally friendly measures have been taken, but overall emissions have risen.

Work has also been done to increase the use of sustainable aviation fuel for royal flights wherever possible.

Green measures in the annual accounts include converting the King’s two Bentleys to run on biofuel next year, as part of a wider drive towards sustainability.

In the longer term, the plan is to switch to an official fleet of electric cars.

Natural gas and heating emissions fell by 3% across the property, although overall greenhouse gas emissions increased slightly on the previous year.

This is largely due to increased business travel.

Charles has been a climate campaigner for decades, but the accounts – for the first full financial year of his reign – suggest he is determined to do things differently.

Windsor Castle will be fitted with solar panels for the first time, while the gas lanterns at Buckingham Palace will be reused with specially designed electrical fittings to improve their energy efficiency while maintaining their historic appearance and glow.

Sir Michael Stevens, Secretary of the Special Portfolio, said the environmental initiatives were “driven by a determination to place sustainability at the heart of our operations and inspired by His Majesty’s leadership in this area.”

On the £369m, 10-year Buckingham Palace project, a separate report by the National Audit Office on Tuesday concluded that the renovation work had been generally well managed, but warned that structural damage and the discovery of asbestos, which led to cost increases, “could have been foreseen”.

She said 82% of the operational improvements are now complete.

There have been no new tenants at the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s former home, Frogmore Cottage, palace officials have revealed.

The Grade II listed Crown Estate at Windsor Home Park remains empty, more than a year after it was officially vacated.

The period covered by the accounts – from 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024 – shows that £600,000 of the Sovereign Grant was spent on the coronation and surrounding events last year, with a total cost of the Sovereign Grant of £800,000.

But the figures also include the period after the King and Princess of Wales were diagnosed with cancer.

Sir Michael said their temporary withdrawal from public-facing duties had inevitably affected the number and nature of engagements.

But he added: “But I would like to say how encouraging it is to see the King back performing many public duties, and recently the Princess has been very involved in the King’s birthday celebrations and the Wimbledon men’s final.”

There were more than 2,300 official engagements by members of the royal family in the UK and abroad, compared to more than 2,700 last year.

Charles participated in 464 official engagements despite being diagnosed with cancer.

The most expensive of these trips was his official visit to Kenya, which cost him £167,000.