Buckingham Palace said on 30 October 2025 that Andrew Mountbatten Windsor will leave Royal Lodge in Windsor and move to alternative private accommodation on the Sandringham estate. The Palace stated he will now be known as Andrew Mountbatten Windsor following steps to remove his styles, titles and honours, and added that the King will make “appropriate private provision” for his brother while arrangements are completed.
Those arrangements will not draw on the Sovereign Grant. Under HM Treasury guidance and the Sovereign Grant Act 2011, the Grant funds official duties and the upkeep of occupied royal palaces; it does not cover personal housing or private living costs. In practice, any support for Mr Mountbatten Windsor would therefore come from the King’s private income, principally the Privy Purse, which is sustained by the Duchy of Lancaster.
For 2024/25 the Duchy of Lancaster reported an adjusted net surplus of £24.4m and net assets of £678.7m at 31 March 2025. As with his late mother, the King voluntarily pays income tax on Privy Purse income to the extent it is not used for official purposes, in line with the updated 2023 Memorandum of Understanding on Royal Taxation.
Separately, the Royal Trustees confirmed the Sovereign Grant for 2025/26 at £132.1m. The Trustees’ report sets out an indicative split of £72m for core activities and £60m to complete Buckingham Palace reservicing, the 10‑year modernisation programme approved in 2016 to address fire and flood risk. This is the first cash increase since 2021/22 and is expected to be temporary.
The Grant remained flat at £86.3m in 2024/25 for the fourth consecutive year, comprising £51.8m for the core Grant and £34.5m for Buckingham Palace works. The Royal Household reported £21.5m of additional income that year, supported by record visitor numbers at Buckingham Palace during summer opening and tours of the newly reserviced East Wing. Members of the Royal Family undertook over 1,900 engagements, and 93,000 guests attended 828 events at official palaces.
The calculation of the Sovereign Grant changed after the 2023 review. The percentage applied to Crown Estate net revenue profit was cut from 25% to 12% from 2024/25, reflecting a sharp, but time‑limited, rise in Crown Estate profits linked to offshore wind option fees. The Act also includes a floor so the Grant cannot fall below the previous year’s amount, with the Sovereign Grant Reserve used to smooth spending where required.
Crown Estate results explain the short‑term funding peak. In 2024/25 the Estate reported net revenue profit of about £1.1bn, driven largely by Round 4 offshore wind option fees, and a net asset value of £15.0bn. The Estate expects the option‑fee uplift to fall back markedly from 2026 as projects move into construction, which is why ministers have signalled legislation to reduce the Grant from 2027/28 once the Palace programme’s agreed funding is delivered.
The link between the Grant and Crown Estate profits is long‑standing policy. The 2016 review temporarily raised the percentage from 15% to 25% to finance Buckingham Palace works; the 2023 review lowered it to 12%, aligning with the King’s request in January 2023 that offshore wind gains should benefit the Exchequer. HM Treasury’s 20 March 2025 report confirms the £132.1m figure for 2025/26 and the intention to reset the amount after the works conclude.
In real terms, public funding for the Royal Household has risen since the Sovereign Grant replaced the Civil List in 2012/13. House of Commons Library analysis shows the Grant at roughly £44.3m in 2012/13 (in 2025/26 prices) compared with £132.1m in 2025/26. The Library projects £137.9m for 2026/27 before an anticipated reduction thereafter, subject to legislation.
The monarchy’s private and public income streams remain distinct. The King’s private estate, the Duchy of Lancaster, is separate from the Crown Estate and provides Privy Purse income. The Prince of Wales receives the distributable surplus of the Duchy of Cornwall, which reported £22.9m for the year to 31 March 2025 on assets of about £1.1bn. Both Duchies are Crown bodies with Crown exemption from corporation tax; the King and the Prince of Wales voluntarily pay income tax on duchy profits not used for official costs. Capital gains from the Duchies are reinvested and are not personally received.
Taxation arrangements are set out in HM Treasury’s 2023 Memorandum. The Sovereign does not pay tax on the Sovereign Grant as it funds official expenditure only; income and capital gains tax are paid voluntarily on private income to defined extents. The “sovereign‑to‑sovereign” inheritance tax exemption, agreed in 1993, continues to apply to assets passing from one monarch to the next.
The Crown Estate is neither government nor private royal property. It belongs to the Sovereign in right of the Crown and its profits flow to the Treasury. Occupied royal palaces, such as Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle, are held in right of the Crown and maintained from the Sovereign Grant. Several unoccupied palaces-including the Tower of London and Hampton Court Palace-are managed by Historic Royal Palaces, an independent charity, on a self‑funding basis.
By contrast, Balmoral and Sandringham are the monarch’s private properties and do generate private costs and income. Sandringham covers roughly 8,000 hectares of farmland, woodland and residential properties in Norfolk. It is understood that Andrew Mountbatten Windsor’s new accommodation will be within this privately owned estate and funded privately by the King.
Security is outside the Sovereign Grant. Royalty and Specialist Protection is arranged by the Home Office and the Metropolitan Police, with costs not disclosed following tribunal rulings. For context on major events outside the Grant, the government recorded £161.7–£162m for Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral in 2022 and £72m for the 2023 Coronation, including £21.7m for policing.
Campaign group Republic argues that the “true” annual cost of the monarchy is higher than the Grant once security, local authority costs and foregone income are included, estimating about £510m. Government and parliamentary sources recognise security and event costs but emphasise that Crown Estate profits-boosted recently by offshore wind-accrue to the Exchequer and that Grant levels are independently reviewed under statute.