UK King’s Estate ‘Run Like Business’ Amid Reports He Won’t Pay Inheritance Tax on Duchy of Lancaster

The UK’s King Charles III automatically inherited the Duchy of Lancaster estate, which is worth over £650 million (more than $760 million), following the death of his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, on September 8.

Before acceding to the throne last Saturday, King Charles III increased his portfolio’s value and profits by about 50 percent, the New York Times has reported.

According to the newspaper, the value of the King’s Duchy of Cornwall estate holdings stand at about $1.4 billion, as compared to the late queen’s $949 million private portfolio.

Last year, Charles made $28 million in profit from the 130,000-acre (about 526 km2) duchy, which currently includes a cricket ground, posh farmland in southern England, seaside vacation rentals, office space in London and a suburban supermarket depot.

Laura Clancy, the author of “Running the Family Firm: How the Monarchy Manages Its Image and Our Money,” told the NYT that “the duchy has been steadily commercializing over the past few decades”.

She argued that the conglomerate “is run like a commercial business with a CEO and over 150 staff.” Clancy also said that what was earlier seen as just a “landed gentry pile of land” now operates like a corporation.

Possibly adding to King Charles III’s wealth may be the fact that he will most likely avoid paying millions of pounds in inheritance tax on the Duchy of Lancaster inherited from the Queen due to a government rule designed to protect the Royal Family’s wealth.

UK law stipulates that Brits are obliged to pay a 40 percent tax on anything they inherit over a £325,000 ($380,000) threshold.

The King, however, will not have to pay the levy because a rule, approved by No 10 in 1993, states that this inheritance tax does not have to be paid on the transfer of assets from one sovereign to another, according to the NYT.

The so-called Memorandum of Understanding on royal taxation states that it would be "clearly inappropriate" for inheritance tax to be paid on assets "which are held by the Queen as sovereign rather than as a private individual."

The document also notes that the monarchy needs "sufficient private resources" to implement its role in national life and to have a degree of financial independence from the government.

Since 1993, though, Queen Elizabeth II had paid income and capital gain taxes on Lancaster on a voluntary basis, and it remains unclear whether the King will follow suit.

According to its financial records, the Duchy of Lancaster estate generated revenue of £24 million ($28 million) and had assets worth more than £650 million (over $760 million) as of late March 2022.

Last Saturday, Charles III was formally proclaimed the King of the UK at St. James Palace in London during an Accession Council meeting. The royal automatically became the King after his mother “peacefully” passed away on September 8.