THE Buckingham Palace accountants have made the Royal Family’s expenses public, but this year it was above all the subject of discussion Prince William’s surprising salary. Too high, say the British, increasingly in hardship due to a serious economic crisis. But hadn’t his father Charles III promised to limit royal expenses?
Prince William, successful businessman like Charles III
Last September, upon his father’s accession to the throne, the future heir to the throne inherited, together with the title of prince of Wales, also the management of the Duchy of Cornwallthe farm and real estate – currently valued at around £1 billion – which Carlo had managed to turn into a successful business through decades of hard work and a pioneering vision for his business.
William, 41, is now enjoying the rewards, including an income (for this year) of a whopping £6m, the equivalent of around €7m.
Prince William’s excessive salary
With the Duchy of Cornwall – created in the fourteenth century by Edward III for the then heir to the throne – William also became one of the largest landowners in England, with estates scattered throughout the British territory. These include housing developments, holiday homes, farms and ranches, woodlands, forests and entire stretches of the British coast.
Proceeds go to fund William and Kate’s public and private businesses and, according to experts, are set to increase over the next 12 months, even exceeding 20 million pounds.
William of England, London, May 2023 (Getty Images)
A growing company for the heir to the throne
During 2022 and in the first part of this year, the Duchy saw its businesses generate £1 million more than a year earlier, for a total of 24 million. The large sum would go entirely to the prince, who however, having inherited the company only in the middle of the financial year and due to a bureaucratic technicality, this year had to settle for only a part. In 2024 he will instead be able to personally collect all the proceeds.
The criticisms for William were not long in coming
The news of the salary – literally princely, it is appropriate to say – arrives in the same week in which William pitched Homewardsan initiative that aims, over the next five years, to end the plight of homelessness in Great Britain.
According to his detractors, the prince, often accused of not being very clear about his finances and personal expenses, shouldn’t keep all the annuity: the revenue of Duchy instead, they should be distributed among the same local communities that the prince intends to help.
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