King Charles and Queen Camilla will not return to Buckingham Palace following the renovations and will continue to reside nearby, at Clarence House . The Palace itself has made this clear, underlining that the intention is to make Buckingham Palace "the ceremonial center of royal life," with greater public access . But it's a day of controversy in the United Kingdom after Buckingham Palace revealed for the first time in the history of the British Crown the taxes paid by King Charles III in his personal income and tax returns : 30 million pounds since becoming sovereign in 2022. Figures for the heir to the throne, Prince William, were also revealed, exceeding 20 million pounds in the same period.
The most controversial announcement is the King and Queen Camilla's intention not to reside at the Palace once the ongoing £370 million mega-renovation is completed, formalizing their choice to remain in the more discreet Clarence House residence when in the capital, thus breaking a centuries-old royal family tradition . Regarding the reaction, the right-wing tabloid Daily Express claims that with this decision, the sovereign "risks making the worst mistake of his reign." Anti-monarchists from Republic protested: "The government agreed to spend £370 million to refurbish Buckingham Palace, and now Charles doesn't want to use it," said the group's leader Graham Smith.
The Times , however, highlighted the lack of transparency in the method used to calculate the taxes paid by Charles III and the heir to the throne. Meanwhile, the Sovereign Grant, the state-funded allowance made available to the Windsor dynasty for institutional expenses and those of senior royals, is set to double in three years, from £51.8 million in 2024-25 to £100 million in 2027-28. The Crown has decided to make the taxes paid public to assuage public opinion, at a time of crisis in popularity, partly linked to the scandal surrounding the former Prince Andrew's relationship with Epstein.
