Why the British Royal House is going to get even richer from the wind energy boom

The King of England is the owner of half of the British coastline and the sea floor up to 12 miles offshore The Crown Estate is the public body that manages this royal heritage: 25% of the returns are for the Royal House of WindsorSince 1760, the king transferred the returns from his estate to the Government in exchange for an allocationThe British Crown owns the seabed from the coast up to 12 nautical miles, an asset whose value has skyrocketed due to the demand for plots to install offshore wind farms . Does Carlos III take it all? No, only in part, but the percentage that this new king who boasts of environmentalism -or rather, the Royal House of him- will receive from him is substantial. Since the Norman invasion of William the Conqueror in 1066, British kings have owned vast estates. It was in 1760 that King George III handed over the proceeds of his estate to the Government in exchange for a fixed allocation, the Civil List. A fortune of 30,000 million The Windsor fortune is around 30,000 million euros and comes from various sources: the Duchy of Cornwall, the Duchy of Lancaster, the royal estate managed by the Crown Estate and private fortune. Private wealth exceeds 430 million and includes possessions such as the Balmoral Palace. The Duchy of Cornwall comprises real estate such as London’s The Oval stadium, offices and holiday rentals. It feeds the income of the heir to the Crown. The management of Charles of England has raised them by 50% in the last decade. He does not pay corporation tax. The assets of the Duchy of Lancaster are valued at 950 million euros and belongs to whoever sits on the throne. Elizabeth II did voluntarily pay taxes on the income from this dukedom. The rest of the royal properties are managed by the Crown Estate. Buildings in Regent Street, London, owned by the Crown managed by the Crown Estate. Europa PressWhat is the Crown Estate? Today the Crown Estate, a public body responsible to Parliament, manages one of the largest real estate holdings in the UK. From urban land on the exclusive Regent Street in London to huge rural estates, parks like Windsor, commercial spaces or Ascot racecourse. The extension of its agricultural lands is equivalent to that of the Community of Madrid. The properties also include half of the British coastline and the sea floor up to 12 nautical miles further inland. The total value of the Crown Estate in 2022 is €18 billion. The kings, although they retain the nominal title of the properties, remain on the sidelines. Who owns the palaces? The palaces in use, such as Buckingham or Windsor, which are managed by the Royal House, or those that are privately owned by the monarch such as Balmoral, the residence in Scotland where he died, are not part of the Crown Estate. Isabel II. Unoccupied palaces, such as the Tower of London or Hampton Court, are the responsibility of the Government’s Department of Culture. The returns from the Crown Estate go to the Treasury, the British Treasury. Popular tribute to Elizabeth II in front of Windsor Palace. Europa PressChange in the royal allocationThe calculation and procedure of the royal allocation was changed in 2011. Before the Civil List, like any other budget item, had to be approved in the House of Commons every ten years and was not immune to political debate. Now the Royal House receives a percentage of the returns from the royal estate. It started at 15%, but was raised in 2017 to 25% to pay for renovation work on Buckingham Palace. 100 million tax-free The annual returns until March 2022 went from 50 million euros to 359 million, in part due to the first auction in a decade of licenses to build six offshore wind farms. 25% goes to the Royal House. The last allocation amounted to 100 million euros. Free of taxes and security expenses apart because they are borne by the State. The Spanish Royal House received an allocation of 8.5 million euros in the 2022 budget, although many of its expenses are covered by various ministries and National Heritage. The pandemic sank profits The British Government has yet to approve wind projects, but independent estimates cited by The Guardian newspaper raise the value of the Crown Estate’s maritime business by 22%, to 5.7 billion euros. Despite the spectacular increase in annual profit thanks to the improvement in rent collection and wind activity, the figure is still below the income obtained by the Crown Estate before the pandemic. They have not yet recovered the performance they obtained from the properties on London’s Regent Street, but the income from Windsor Park -from just over 1 million euros to more than 20- thanks to visitors after the pandemic.