King Charles reveals he has paid $56M in taxes since 2022, in unprecedented disclosure

British taxpayer King Charles III attends Royal Ascot 2026 at Ascot Racecourse on June 16, 2026. Photo by Chris Jackson/Getty Images

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King Charles III has paid more than £30 million (C$56 million) in personal taxes since becoming monarch in September 2022, Buckingham Palace announced Thursday, in the first such disclosure by a reigning British sovereign.

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The palace, which had confirmed at the weekend that it would make the unprecedented release, said it was part of its “commitment to transparency” as royal finances come under increasing public scrutiny.

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Charles’s eldest son and heir Prince William also for the first time revealed his personal tax information, having paid more than £20 million (C$37 million) in taxes since inheriting the title of Prince of Wales when his father became king.

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British monarchs are legally exempt from paying certain taxes, though they have paid some duties voluntarily for decades, and they also have no obligation to disclose their private tax bills.

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“The amount of tax payable by His Majesty since Accession is more than £30 million,” the palace said within a wider press release updating various aspects of royal finances.

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It noted in the two full tax years since he acceded to the throne on September 10, 2022, his personal bill was £24.6 million.

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That comprised £11.7 million in 2023-24 and £12.9 million in 2024-25. Tax years in Britain run from early April.

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It did not give the figure for 2022 to 2023.

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William, 44, paid more than £20 million in income and capital gains taxes since inheriting the title when Charles became king.

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He stumped up £8.34 million in 2023-24 and £7.76 million in the 2024-25 tax year.

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Charles began releasing his personal tax information as heir to the throne.

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But he has broken with custom by continuing that as king — his mother and predecessor Queen Elizabeth II never did during her record-breaking seven-decade reign.

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British monarchs get money from various sources.

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They include the publicly-funded Sovereign Grant as well as private Duchy of Lancaster income worth tens of millions of pounds more which also helps fund personal expenses and some official duties.

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The sovereign’s other private sources of income include their Balmoral and Sandringham estates as well as art, jewellery and stamp collections, investments and private savings.

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Under UK law, monarchs do not have to pay income, capital gains or inheritance taxes.

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However, since 1993 they have voluntarily paid the first two, following public pressure and scrutiny of the royals’ opaque finances after a Windsor Castle fire required expensive repairs.

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That scrutiny has renewed amid recent scandals surrounding the disgraced former prince Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, and revelations he had been paying only a token “peppercorn” rent on a Windsor estate mansion.