How much the Royal Family spent of taxpayers’ money last year as annual income is revealed for 2023

The royal accounts for the 2023/24 financial year have been announced, so you can take a look at how much the monarchy officially costs the country.

In total, the figure the government officially paid to the royal family for that year was £86.3 million, with £51.8 million going on 'core' spending and £34.5 million dedicated to the refurbishment of Buckingham Palace.

Meanwhile, the family's official net spend was £89.1 million.

Here's how it works, there's this thing called the Crown Estate which manages the lands and properties belonging to the monarch, and there's quite a lot of money in it.

The Crown Estate controls about £16 billion worth of assets and is currently turning a profit of £1.1 billion.

Officially they give their earnings to the government and get a chunk back, but how does it all work? (Kirsty Wigglesworth - WPA Pool/Getty Images)

It includes the seabed and much of the shores around England, Wales and Northern Ireland, as well as a number of prominent properties in London along with farmland, offices and retail parks.

Those profits go to the government, then a portion of that money goes back to the royal family in something called the Sovereign Grant.

Since 1760 the monarch has given their income to the government in exchange for a payment in return, and in 2012 a reform of royal finances introduced the Sovereign Grant.

The percentage of funds the royal family gets from this money is subject to review every five years, so when the measure was first introduced it was set at 15 percent, then in 2017 it was advised that it should be increased to 25 percent to pay for projects such as the renovation of Buckingham Palace.

That rate has since been cut to 12 percent of profits from the Crown Estate after it saw a large increase from offshore wind projects.

The Crown Estate is not King Charles' private property, so he only owns it during his reign. (Hannah McKay - WPA Pool/Getty Images)

That figure will again be reviewed in the 2026/27 year to have a 'more appropriate level' of funding.

This year the Sovereign Grant will send £86.3 million to the royal family, but an increase in profits for the Crown Estate means that for the 2025/26 financial year that figure is set to rise to £132 million.

The official net expenditure of the monarchy for the 2023/24 year was £89.1 million, a drop from the cost of £107.5 million the year previously.

As for what they've spent it on, it includes two new helicopters, various travels around the world and housekeeping.

A large chunk of the expenditure goes on wages, with £27.9 million going on staff costs, there are 523 full time staff members paid for through Sovereign Grant money.

Officially the cost to the British taxpayer for the Sovereign Grant is £1.29 per person, though critics of the royal family argue that they cost more than just what's granted to them.

Critics of the royal family say they cost the country more than their official expenditure shows. (Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Images)

The Crown Estates are not the only place members of the royal family get their money from.

The monarch, currently King Charles III, gets income from the Duchy of Lancaster while the current Duke of Cornwall, Prince William, receives revenue from there.

While £89.1 million is the official expenditure of the royal family in the latest financial year, anti-monarchy campaigners argue that the actual cost of the family to the public purse is much higher.

Campaign group Republic claims that the real cost of the royal family is closer to £345 million, which includes the cost of events and security.