Grand palaces, lavish weddings, jet-setting trips — given their high-flying lifestyle,
you might assume the queen of England and her extended family must be rolling in cash.
But that’s not quite the case, say people who’ve tried to put a dollar amount on the
net worth of the British royals. Collectively, the key members of the House of Windsor are
worth somewhere between $775 million and $1 billion.
A family fortune in the nine figures might sound like a lot to us humble commoners, but
compared to other royals around the world, Queen Elizabeth isn’t particularly wealthy.
The King of Saudi Arabia, Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, is worth more than $17 billion. The
King of Thailand, Maha Vajiralongkorn, is now the head of a royal family estimated to
be worth $30 billion. Prince Albert of Monaco’s net worth is pegged at $1 billion. And the
queen isn’t even among the richest people in the U.K.
Although the British royals might not top the list of the world’s wealthiest, they’re
not exactly short of funds. Here’s what 15 famous members of the British royal family
are worth.
Queen Elizabeth has a personal fortune of around $425 million, according to Fortune.
Much of that derives from her ownership of Balmoral Castle and Sandringham House. Those
two estates are the personal property of the queen, rather than being owned by the Crown
Estate. What’s the difference? She could potentially sell Balmoral Castle to raise
money. But she’s not allowed to dispose of any property belonging to the Crown, though
she does get income from it. She also owns outright a valuable stamp collection, jewelry,
and possibly a portfolio of blue-chip stocks. In 2017-18, the income from Crown Estate properties
(known as the Sovereign Grant) amounted to about $98.1 million. Those millions are used
to pay for the upkeep of palaces, staff salaries, travel for the queen and other royals, and
other expenditures. In addition, the queen received $24.8 million in 2016 in income from
the Duchy of Lancaster. The queen also holds in trust a vast private art collection that’s
worth somewhere between $10 billion and $13 billion.
The queen’s husband, Prince Phillip, Duke
of Edinburgh, is worth an estimated $30 million, according to House Beautiful. He also receives
a salary of $459,161 a year to cover “the expenses of carrying out his public duties
in support of the Queen.” It’s not clear whether the prince will continue to receive
that income since retiring from his public role earlier in 2017.
Prince Charles’ income comes from the Duchy
of Cornwall, which is worth more than $1 billion, according to some estimates. In 2016, the
estate generated millions in earnings for the future king. However, Charles doesn’t
really own the duchy, which was established in the 14th century to provide income to the
crown prince. Once Charles becomes king, the duchy goes to William, the future Prince of
Wales.
The youngest son of Prince Charles and Princess Diana is worth an estimated $40 million. That
includes the roughly $16 million he inherited directly from his mother after she died, as
well as money he received from the Queen Mother. His girlfriend, Meghan Markle, is worth about
$5 million, meaning the couple would be worth about $45 million if they tied the knot.
Prince Harry also receives money from his dad to cover the cost of his official royal
duties. He, along with William and Kate, were given about $4.2 million in 2016 to cover
those expenses.
The Duchess of Cornwall is worth $5 million, according to CelebrityNetWorth. When she married
Prince Charles in 2005, she owned a home worth about $2.5 million. She also receives money
from the Duchy of Cornwall for carrying out her official royal duties.
Back in 2012, consultancy firm Wealth X estimated
Prince Andrew’s net worth at $75 million. Much of his money comes from a trust fund
established when he was a child, according to the blog Royal Splendor, and he receives
a yearly stipend of $408,000 from the queen. He also receives pension from the Royal Navy.
The youngest child of Queen Elizabeth and
Prince Phillip is worth $45 million, according to Wealth X’s estimates. He and his wife,
Sophie, the countess of Wessex, are full-time royals who receive a salary via the queen’s
income from the Crown Estate.
Queen Elizabeth’s only daughter, Princess Anne, is worth an estimated $30 million. Her
assets include a trust fund set up by her grandfather, George VI, jewelry worth $7 million,
and a home worth $15 million, according to Royal Splendor. She also gets a yearly income
from the queen.
Princess Anne’s daughter doesn’t have
a royal title (though she is 16th in line for the throne), but she does have wealth
befitting a royal. According to Celebrity Net Worth, Phillips, an Olympic equestrian,
is worth $20 million. She might actually have her lack of a title
to thank for her millions. Because she’s not a princess, she can do things, such as
launch a jewelry line, sign up for endorsement deals, or sell photos of her daughter to the
tabloids, things that wouldn’t be appropriate if she had an official royal role.
Prince Andrew’s two daughters, the Princesses
Beatrice and Eugenie, are each worth around $5 million to $6 million, according to Royal
Splendor. Their wealth comes from a combination of trust funds established for them by the
Queen Mother and a trust awarded to each after their father’s divorce from their mother,
Sarah Ferguson. Plus, they also get to live for free at their apartment in St. James’s
Palace. Prince Andrew covers the yearly rent of about $25,000.
A year before she died, Princess Diana received
$22.5 million as part of her divorce settlement from Prince Charles. After she passed away,
that money — along with her other assets, such as jewelry and personal belongings — mostly
went to her sons, William and Harry, who each received about $16 million on their 30th birthdays.
Prince George may only be 4 years old, but
the future king of England is worth a lot. The little boy who’s third in line to the
throne is worth about $3.08 billion, according to a 2017 estimate by Brand Finance.
But there’s a catch. That number doesn’t represent George’s personal wealth. Rather,
it’s his value to the British fashion industry. Pretty much anything the prince wears ends
up flying off store shelves, effectively pumping a ton of money into the economy, noted Marie
Claire.
Princess Charlotte is worth even more than her older brother, at least according to Brand
Finance. Her value to the British fashion industry is roughly $3.85 billion. The princess
is worth more than the prince simply because the market for women’s and girl’s fashion
is much larger than that for boys and men.
Like his younger brother, Prince William has an estimated net worth of $40 million. His
wealth comes from his inheritance from his mother and a trust set up by his great-grandmother,
the Queen Mother. He also gets a share of the more than $4 million his father provides
him, his brother, and his wife to cover their expenses as royals.
Kate Middleton is worth about $10 million,
according to House Beautiful, with a big chunk of her wealth coming from her share of her
family’s party planning business. But if you factor in her value to the British economy,
her net worth rises into the billions — perhaps not surprising when you consider that a single
photo of the duchess wearing a particular dress is often enough to cause the item to
sell out around the world.