SEPTEMBER 14, 2022
Queen Elizabeth attending an event. – Wpa Pool/Getty Images
It’s no secret that the British royal family has serious financial means. While no one knows exactly how wealthy the family is, Queen Elizabeth left behind a fortune of $500 million when she died in September 2022 (per Fortune). King Charles III has inherited that fortune, and will not be required to pay taxes on the inheritance (per The Guardian). The crown estate has a further estimated $17.8 billion in assets, and 25% of those assets make up the Sovereign Grant, a fund that is used to pay the royal family for their work.
Of course, not everyone in the royal family receives the same income, and some members have earned significantly less than others. Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie, who have both benefited from a trust fund set up by their great-grandmother, have also worked independently outside of their royal duties as adults. Other royals, such as Prince Edward and Princess Anne, have gained their vast resources through taxpayer-provided funds for the royal family.
Here is a look at the estimated net worth of the British royal family.
Princess Beatrice Is Worth $1 Million
Princess Beatrice. – David M. Benett/Getty Images
When Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson divorced in 1996, their daughters Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie stepped into a pretty impressive windfall of money. As Cosmopolitan has reported, part of the divorce agreement included a £3 million trust fund for Ferguson and her daughters. Of that money, Beatrice and Eugenie reportedly received £1.4 million in a shared trust.
On top of that, Beatrice is the beneficiary of a trust fund set up by her great-grandmother, Queen Elizabeth’s mother. She opted to leave a vast sum of her own money (£19 million) to the children that her grandchildren would have. While Prince William and Harry shared £6 million of that fund when they each turned 21 (and the two will get a further £8 million on their 40th birthdays), Beatrice was on the receiving end of what was left over.
These two factors alone would have Beatrice sitting pretty, but she also spent a lot of her adulthood working regular jobs. As a non-working royal, Beatrice isn’t entitled to the Sovereign Grant, which pays salaries to the royal family. She’s previously worked for Sony and the tech company Afiniti. It’s thus far unclear how her July 2020 wedding to Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi has impacted her overall net worth, but at the time of this writing, Celebrity Net Worth puts Beatrice at a comfortable $1 million on her own.
Princess Eugenie Is Worth $1 Million
Princess Eugenie. –Max Mumby/indigo/Getty Images
Like her sister Princess Beatrice, Princess Eugenie can count the trust fund set up during her parent’s divorce as well as the second trust fund set up by her great-grandmother as part of her overall net worth. She’s also not a senior, working royal, so Eugenie has taken positions at various companies. As told by Good Housekeeping, Eugenie spent a lot of her early adulthood working in the art world, first as the director for the online auction house Hauser & Wirth.
Eugenie married her husband Jack Brooksbank, who has had a long career in hospitality. It’s believed that Eugenie’s present net worth is approximately $1 million (per Celebrity Net Worth), and it’s unclear how her marriage has impacted that amount (if at all).
As for having a career outside the royal family, it seems that is something Eugenie’s father has always wanted for her. In 2016, Prince Andrew issued a statement and explained, “As a father, my wish for my daughters is for them is to be modern working young women, who happen to be members of the royal family, and I am delighted to see them building their careers” (via People).
Prince Andrew Is Worth $5 Million
Prince Andrew attending an event. – Eamonn M. Mccormack/Getty Images
Prince Andrew’s financial situation has been a heavily discussed topic in recent years, especially as he became embroiled in his own sex abuse scandal. In March 2022, Andrew paid Virginia Giuffre an undisclosed amount following the conclusion of the sex abuse lawsuit she filed against him (per CNN). While the amount paid hasn’t been released, The Telegraph reported that the figure is likely well over $13.8 million, and that Andrew likely needed help from Queen Elizabeth II to pay it off.
That squares with the information available from Celebrity Net Worth, as the site has Andrew’s estimated net worth to be approximately $5 million — an amount that is a far cry from the possible settlement paid to Giuffre. In November 2021, The Guardian reported that a $1.725 million loan taken out by Andrew from his private bank was paid off by an outside source, conservative donor David Rowland, who also reportedly paid off private debts owed by Andrew’s ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson.
Up until Andrew was told to step back as a senior royal, he received approximately $322,000 a year from the Crown. He attempted to sell off an impressive ski lodge in Switerzland, but that sale was held up because of his own bad debts (via the New York Post). He and Ferguson share a $10 million home known as the Royal Lodge, which is owned by the Crown Estate instead of Andrew himself (per Celebrity Net Worth).
Camilla Parker Bowles Had A Net Worth Of $5 Million Before Marrying King Charles
Camilla Parker Bowles attending an event. – Wpa Pool/Getty Images
Queen Consort Camilla Parker Bowles entered into her marriage to King Charles III with a healthy bank account of her own. Celebrity Net Worth estimates that her overall personal net worth is $5 million, which stems from her wealthy parents. Camilla’s mother, Rosalind Cubitt, inherited $575,000 (via The Independent), and her father Major Bruce Shand was a wine merchant, an officer in the army, and vice lord lieutenant of East Sussex (per Good Housekeeping). She grew up in an impressive home worth $2 million and attended prestigious schools, and her first husband, Andrew Parker Bowles, was also financially successful.
Of course, marrying King Charles III in 2005 offered a major boost to Camilla’s net worth as well; The Telegraph reported that the king opted to not sign a prenuptial agreement ahead of their marriage. This was in line with his past actions, as he also did not sign a prenup with Princess Diana. Also, his sons reportedly did not sign prenups when they got married (per Showbiz Cheatsheet).
Meghan Markle Had A Net Worth Of $5 Million Before Marrying Prince Harry
Meghan Markle. – Chris Jackson/Getty Images
Meghan Markle, Duchess of Sussex, also entered into her own royal marriage with financial security. Her overall personal net worth is estimated to have been $5 million before she and Prince Harry married in May 2018. This small fortune came from her career as an actress, as Markle had numerous roles on TV shows before landing the role of Rachel on “Suits” in July 2011. Per Celebrity Net Worth, Markle earned $50,000 per episode of “Suits” at the height of her time on the series, making her total income from the show approximately $4 million.
Markle also ran the lifestyle blog The Tig, which she started in 2014. The site was very popular, and Celebrity Net Worth notes that its social media platforms had hundreds of thousands of followers. Markle reportedly earned $80,000 a year from the site itself. She shut down the website in 2017, but was said to have applied to reactivate the trademark for the site’s name in January 2022 (per The Daily Mail).
Prince Edward Is Worth $10 Million
Prince Edward. – Dan Mullan/Getty Images
Prince Edward and his wife Sophie Wessex are rumored to have a shared net worth of $10 million (per Celebrity Net Worth), though the website Wealth-X put that net worth at closer to $45 million back in 2012. Whether the number is $10 million or $45 million, it’s clear that the two are doing quite well.
Prince Edward joined the military for four months following his graduation from college before moving on to a career in theater and television. He even ran his own company, Ardent Productions, until 2002, when he began to take on more of a role in the royal family. It’s believed that the bulk of Edward’s wealth comes from the Sovereign Grant, though it’s likely he still has money left over from his earlier positions.
Edward and Sophie married in 1999, and up to that point, Sophie had worked in public relations. In the years that followed her marriage, Sophie also took on more responsibility within the royal family (via Celebrity Net Worth).
Kate Middleton Is Worth $10 Million
Kate Middleton. – LINGTREN.COM/Shutterstock
As the wife of Prince William and the Princess of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall and Cambridge, Kate Middleton has a sky-high net worth these days. However, she entered into her marriage with William with a significant personal net worth of $10 million, much of which was gleaned from her mother’s incredibly successful party supplies company and Middleton’s own work in fashion.
The duchess is also the beneficiary of a trust fund established by her great-grandmother. As told by the Daily Mail, three of Middleton’s great-uncles died in World War I. Their two sisters, Olive and Alice Lupton, were the last two left of the family, and Olive is Middleton’s great-grandmother. Following the death of each of her brothers, Olive and Alice inherited £70,538 — which is at least $2.9 million today. Olive set up a trust fund for her descendants, which included Middleton’s grandfather and, ultimately, Middleton herself.
Princess Anne Has A Net Worth Of $10 Million
Princess Anne. – Art Babych/Shutterstock
King Charles III’s sister Princess Anne has an impressive net worth of at least $10 million (per Celebrity Net Worth). While much of that amount is made up of payments Anne receives through the Sovereign Grant, she was quite the athlete as a youth and was a proficient equestrian, even competing in the Summer Olympics in 1976.
It’s possible that Anne’s net worth is even higher. As Lad Bible wrote in June 2022, it’s believed that in addition to her annual income via the grant, Anne owns $7 million in jewelry and a $15 million home, and that she is the beneficiary of a trust fund established by her grandfather.
Queen Elizabeth used the Privy Purse, a taxpayer-funded income source, to pay each of her children, including Princess Anne, for their appearances at royal events throughout the U.K. and abroad. Anne is also paid through the Duchy of Lancaster, which Oprah Daily has described as “a portfolio of land, property, and assets held in trust for the reigning sovereign.”
Prince Harry’s Net Worth Is $60 Million
Prince Harry. – LINGTREN.COM/Shutterstock
As Princess Diana’s son, Prince Harry inherited a fortune from his mother following her death in 1997. Princess Diana set up a trust fund for both of her sons that paid Harry $10 million on his 30th birthday. Diana gained her own wealth from both her own aristocratic family as well as her 15-year marriage to King Charles and their subsequent divorce settlement.
Harry later revealed that he and Meghan Markle were financially cut off from the royal family in early 2020, and that they lived off of the money he received from his mother’s fund from that point — until signing a $120 million deal with Netflix and Spotify. Up to that point, Harry was funded by the Duchy of Cornwall, a private estate founded by Edward III in 1337. Harry received this funding through his father, who was the Duke of Cornwall for Queen Elizabeth’s reign, and the Duchy funds the “public, private, and charitable activities of the duke and his immediate family.”
Harry was also the recipient of a trust fund established by his great-grandmother when she passed away. At the time of this writing, Harry and Markle have established several deals with companies such as the aforementioned Netflix and Spotify, and the pair also owns a $14.7 million home in California (via Celebrity Net Worth).
Prince William Is Worth $100 Million
Prince William attending an event, – Liv Oeian/Shutterstock
Like his brother, Prince William received money held in a trust set up by his mother, Princess Diana. William began receiving dividend payments of $450,000 a year when he turned 25, and received the full amount of the trust on his 30th birthday. William has also inherited the Duchy of Cornwall, which is valued at $1.1 billion, from his father following Queen Elizabeth’s passing. While William cannot access the total value of the Duchy, he will use it pay himself and his wife, and to provide for his family (per Forbes).
Following the ascension of his father to the throne, William’s net worth is now estimated to be $100 million (per Celebrity Net Worth). While William had a robust career in the military from 2006 to 2013, the bulk of his time working has been through the royal family as the heir to the throne. Despite that, Celebrity Net Worth also notes that most of his net worth prior to receiving the Duchy of Cornwall came from the trust fund set up by his mother.
King Charles III Is Worth $600 Million
King Charles III. – Max Mumby/indigo/Getty Images
King Charles III already had a massive net worth of $100 million ahead of his ascension to the throne. Now that he is King of the United Kingdom, Charles has a net worth of $600 million. Much of Charles’ income before he became king was sourced from the Duchy of Cornwall, which is always inherited by the oldest son of the current monarch, and it’s believed that Charles typically made anywhere betwee $20 and $30 million a year this way (via Celebrity Net Worth).
The Duchy of Cornwall operates as a “crown body” which ensures that the royal family is not taxed on the money the Duchy generates. Despite that, Charles has opted to pay taxes on the money since 19×93, first paying a tax rate of 50% and reducing that number to 25% following his 2005 marriage. The total value of the Duchy of Cornwall is estimated to be $1.1 billion.
As King Charles III, he has inherited the Duchy of Lancaster from his mother. This is a similar private collection of land and property held by the royal family; unlike the Duchy of Cornwall, it’s not expected that Charles will pay any tax on this inheritance (per The Guardian).
