Getty Prince Charles' net worth derives from vast estates.
Prince Charles’ net worth is very high, although a lot of it is derived from vast properties that he would never be able to sell. However, the Prince of Wales still has a large fortune.
Prince Charles earned praise from many when it was revealed that he would walk American actress Meghan Markle partially down the aisle as she marries his youngest son, Prince Harry, on May 19, 2018. That has a lot of people wondering more about Prince Charles’ net worth, which will obviously grow even more when he becomes King of England if his mother abdicates or passes away.
What’s Prince Charles’ net worth? How much is he worth?
Prince Charles Net Worth: $100 Million
Prince Charles’ net worth is in the area of $100 million, The Richest has estimated. That makes Charles about one-fourth as wealthy as his mother, Queen Elizabeth II. The full name of Charles, 69, is Charles Philip Arthur George. The Prince of Wales, Charles stands as heir to the British throne. He is married to Camilla Parker-Bowles, who was the bane of Princess Diana before she died.
Here’s what you need to know:
1. Some Estimates Put Prince Charles’ Net Worth Even Higher
Charles was born with many titles. According to his website, Charles, in addition to being the Prince of Wales, holds the titles of “The Duke of Cornwall under a charter of King Edward III in 1337; and, in the Scottish peerage, of Duke of Rothesay, Earl of Carrick, Baron Renfrew, Lord of the Isles, and Prince and Great Steward of Scotland.”
The prince’s website notes: “The Prince of Wales, eldest son of The Queen and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, was born at Buckingham Palace at 9.14pm on 14th November 1948, weighing 7lb and 6oz.”
In this photo, Queen Elizabeth II and her family are traveling to Sandringham in the back of their car, with Prince Andrew on her lap, the Duke of Edinburgh to her left with Princess Anne on his lap, and Prince Charles (right) waving, arriving at Liverpool Street Station, London, January 27th 1966.
Although his net worth is generally given as about $100 million, some sites have put Charles’ net worth at anywhere from $400 million to $1 billion. The Royal Family is notoriously private about its finances, which can make determining its members’ exact net worth difficult. Furthermore, many of the properties tied to the family are not assets that anyone could feasibly sell (such as Charles’ vast landholdings or Buckingham Palace and the like.) Many of the higher estimates of Charles’ wealth derive from the value of the Duchy of Cornwall, regarded as his private landholdings. He does not technically own that land, however.
“The Duchy of Cornwall has £1 billion, or $1.3 billion, in total assets,” reports Time. According to The Richest, “The Duchy of Cornwall is a 200-square mile of land set in 23 counties. It includes agricultural (Duchy Originals), residential (Poundbury), and commercial properties.”
2. Charles Derives a lot of His Income From the Duchy of Cornwall
GettyPrince Charles is at the top of the line of succession, followed by his son Prince William. Harry is now sixth in the line.
Although he doesn’t technically own the property, Prince Charles derives a lot of money from the Duchy of Cornwall, the vast estate that he earns income from – in one recent year, he received £16.6 million, or $22.9 million, from the Duchy of Cornwall.
His two sons, Princes William and Harry also receive money from the Duchy, and the Duchy of Cornwall spent about $9 million on them and Prince Charles collectively over the past two years for public activities. According to the Duchy of Cornwall financial statement, “the majority of staff and official and charitable activities, including the official offices of The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry, are paid for from His Royal Highness’s private income from the Duchy of Cornwall.”
Picture of Lady Diana, Princess of Wales with Prince Charles of Wales at their wedding at St Paul Cathedral in London in this file photo dated 29 July 1981.
The Prince of Wales’ annual financial review documents say the estate’s value has been increasing. “The Prince of Wales’s private income comes from the Duchy of Cornwall, an estate comprising agricultural, commercial and residential property mostly in the South West of England,” the site reports. “The Duchy also has a financial investment portfolio. His Royal Highness chooses to use the majority of his income from the Duchy to meet the cost of his, The Duchess of Cornwall’s, The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s and Prince Harry’s public and charitable work.”
Prince Charles doesn’t actually own the property in the Duchy of Cornwall. However, “his royal position enables him to receive income from it as the land’s sole beneficiary,” Reader’s Digest reports. According to The Independent, the Duchy “is a private estate that was established in 1337 by King Edward III.”
3. Prince Charles Runs an Organic Food Company
GettyPrince Charles, Prince of Wales and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall.
Perhaps Prince Charles does not get enough credit for being a successful entrepreneur. Charles runs Duchy Originals, which is an organic food company that the prince launched in 1990. He has earned millions of dollars from that venture.
“The company made a profit of £2.25 million (about $3 million) after its joint venture with Waitrose in September 2010. A sum of £625,293 was donated to charity,” the Richest reports.
In this photo from 1969, Prince Charles (left) is talking to his father, the Duke of Edinburgh, in front of a fireplace at Sandringham, Scotland, 1969. (Getty)
According to Charles’ website, “Duchy Originals is a company which The Prince of Wales set up in 1990, principally to sell organic food products. Since then, it has become established as a leading organic and natural food brand. In 2010 the brand went into partnership with Waitrose.”
The website says that Duchy Originals is technically separate from the Duchy of Cornwall, saying, “From the beginning, it has aimed to help small and medium sized producers, and all profits have gone to charitable causes. It operates entirely separately from the Duchy of Cornwall, which is the private estate from which The Prince of Wales derives his annual income.”
4. Prince Charles Has Donated Millions of Dollars to Charity Over the Years
GettyPrince Charles, Prince of Wales arrives at the National Technical Training Centre to meet residents of Barbuda who have been displaced by the Hurricanes of September on November 17, 2017 in Antigua, Antigua and Barbuda.
The Prince of Wales runs a charitable foundation, and he’s given away millions of dollars in income over the years. According to Time Magazine, the Prince of Wales Charitable Foundation has given away $72.5 million in grants over the last 10 years.
In case you’re curious, Princes William and Harry are said to have an estimated net worth of about $40 million each. About $14 million of that each derived from the estate of their mother Princess Diana as they inherited her estate after she died in a car crash in Paris.
The Richest reported that land deals Charles has made over the years have also put him in a strong financial position, including retail shops and farmland.
5. Charles’ Mother Is Worth Half a Billion Dollars
Portrait of Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip with their baby daughter Princess Anne and son Prince Charles, following the baby’s christening at Buckingham Palace, London, October 21st 1950. (Photo by Central Press/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
Queen Elizabeth II is said to be worth about $425 million. Although she has four children, Charles, as the eldest and heir to the throne, is likely to reap a large inheritance when she passes away. The queen is 92-years-old.
Some of Elizabeth’s estate she owns herself. For example, according to House Beautiful, the Queen owns the $65 million Sandringham House and $140 million Balmoral Castle because she inherited them from King George VI, her father. She also receives what is called a “sovereign grant” and also money from the Duchy of Lancaster.
GettyBritain’s Queen Elizabeth II (Centre Foreground) and Prince Philip (Right Foreground) are joined at Clarence House in London by Prince Charles, (Left Foreground) Prince Edward, (Right Background) Princess Anne (Centre Background) and Prince Andrew (Left Background) on the occasion of a dinner hosted by HRH The Prince of Wales and HRH The Duchess of Cornwall to mark the forthcoming Diamond Wedding Anniversary of The Queen and The Duke, 18 November 2007.
“The Sovereign Grant is conditional — the Queen surrenders all profits from the Crown Estate, a massive collection of land and holdings in Wales, Ireland and Scotland, in exchange for 15% of the Crown Estate’s net revenue from two years prior,” House Beautiful reported, noting that this has given the queen as much as $48 million a year and the cut was raised to pay for Buckingham Palace renovations.
According to BBC, the Crown Estate “is an independent commercial property business and one of the largest property portfolios in the UK. Most of the portfolio is made up of residential property, commercial offices, shops, businesses, and retail parks.” The money from the Crown Estate goes to the treasury, but the Queen is then given a percentage of it back as income. Once Charles is crowned as King, it’s expected he will gain this income too.