The Real Reason Behind King Charles's Tax Announcement — And It Is Not Transparency
While the tax reveal by King Charles is a much-needed step, the purpose behind it, might have a lot to do with the PR damage caused by Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor.
King Charles made history as the first sovereign to voluntarily share his tax bill. It was certainly a much-welcome change from the ages-old practices of the monarchy, but the reveal set a larger, much somber tone for discussion about what led to this moment. And the answers that have come up have been interesting, and much of it might have to do with disgraced royal, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor.
It is no secret that the royal family has been dodging bullets and jumping over puddles for the past few years, with the Mountbatten-Windsor family playing a major role in the public debacle. Scotland correspondent for the i-Paper, Adam Forrest, recently wrote that although Charles is reportedly paying around $39.6 million USD in taxes since being crowned, “the move has been labeled by critics a ‘deliberate distraction’ from the terrible PR damage done to the Royal Family by his brother”.
This year, it was revealed that Mountbatten-Windsor had earned personal income by subletting cottages at Royal Lodge, as part of his lease agreement. However, he was paying peppercorn rent. To add to that, it was further disclosed that the King was paying rent on Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie’s London properties. But the Yorks were only the start of the problems. “There was also anger over Charles’ Duchy of Lancaster and Prince William’s Duchy of Cornwall gaining huge rental income from grassroots groups, the NHS, and the military. The royal estates stopped charging grassroots groups following the criticism,” Forrest added.
Former minister and author of Royal Mint: National Debt, Norman Baker, said, “Andrew may have been the catalyst. But he is just a microcosm of the wider problem. There was terrible PR for Charles and William from the Duchies charging extortionate rents to everyone from the NHS to our armed forces to grassroots groups, which made them look grasping.” He further mentioned that important details such as Charles’ investments, income tax, capital gains tax, the source of the money, and how much is offset by expenses remain obscure. “It’s spin from the Palace in pretending to be transparent, partly in reaction to Andrew (controversies),” Baker added.
Labor peer, George Foulkes, who “wants to bring down the taxpayer-funded Sovereign Grant”, believes that the tax reveal had been an attempt at gaining positive PR for the King. “The publication of tax returns is a welcome step, but I suspect it’s been done as a deliberate distraction. If they have these other income streams, there’s no reason they can’t pay for more themselves,” he said.
Charles willingly pays tax on the private income generated from the Duchy of Lancaster, a portfolio of properties, land, and other assets. Other than that, he owns the Balmoral and Sandringham estates and has other personal, private investments. There is no doubt that the royal family is a soft power for the UK and benefits the economy by encouraging tourism. But the purpose of the tax reveal and the continued lack of clarity over other significant financial details have raised eyebrows.
