After his first full year as the Duke of Cornwall, Prince William earned over $42 million in 2023, according to a newly released royal report.
On Wednesday, the Integrated Annual Report from the Duchy of Cornwall revealed the distributable surplus from the estate, which is paid to the duke, totalled £23.6 million (C$42 million).
The amount is calculated before a voluntarily income tax, which the Duchy says Prince William has always opted to pay. Household expenses are also subtracted from the salary, though the amount is unclear.
The $42 million sum covers the “official, charitable and private activities” of Prince William, the Princess of Wales, Kate Middleton, and their three children, Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis.
Prince William, 42, took over as the Duke of Cornwall after his father King Charles III ascended to the throne in 2022. The position is always given to the monarch’s eldest surviving son and heir to the throne — or in the case where there is no heir, the Duchy reverts back to the monarch.
The Duchy of Cornwall is a private estate consisting of around 52,450 hectares of land across 20 counties, mostly in the Southwest of England. The estate is managed by Prince William and His Majesty’s Treasury and has functioned since 1337 to provide funds for the heir to the throne.
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Prince William is working to grow the estate’s income while maintaining its value, according to the report. The royal also hopes to lower the estate’s environmental footprint and make it net zero by the year 2032, as well as “to address the homelessness challenge in Cornwall” through associated charities.
The report maintains the Duchy is “pleased” to have garnered the $42 million distributable surplus while spending a “record amount” on property repairs and maintenance, and investments in staffing and sustainability efforts.
Prince William’s salary is to be spent as he sees fit, the Duchy said.
The estate is worth more than £1 billion (C$1.78 billion).
The median annual salary for full-time employees in the U.K. is about £35,500 (C$63,200). High inflation in the country has seen a fall in average household income in the years after the COVID-19 pandemic.
The House of Commons reports one in six people in the U.K. are living in relative poverty — though this figure increases to one in five people once housing costs are accounted for.
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