The coronation of King Charles III is just four days away, but an annual survey that measures public attitudes towards the British Royal Family has revealed that support for the monarchy is at an all-time low.
The annual British Attitudes Survey uncovered a shift in attitudes towards the royals, with 29 percent of respondents saying the monarchy was 'very important', 26 percent thinking it 'quite important', 20 percent 'not very important' and 25 percent said it was 'not at all important/abolish'.
The number of people who said that the monarchy is 'very important' has never been lower since data collection began in 1983.
There was also a clear difference in attitudes between older and younger generations. Just 12 percent of 18- to 34-year-olds view the monarchy as 'very important' compared to 42 percent of the 55+ age group.
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Saturday's coronation will cost a reported $125 million. This is on top of the annual Sovereign Grant which the UK government gives the monarchy every year to cover the costs of royal duties, travel and upkeep. Last year the grant totalled $107.5m.
Most of that, $80 million, was spent on maintaining and renovating the palaces. The payroll runs at about $30m, while royal travel cost almost $6m. The most expensive trip, costing $280,000, occurred when the Duke and Duchess of Cornwall went on a tour of the Caribbean in March.
There are also many other unpublished costs, including security, policing and local authority costs of royal visits. Some estimate the real total cost of the Royal Family could be as high as $500m per year.
The coronation will cost the UK taxpayer a reported $125m. /Hugo Burnand/Royal Household
King Charles inherited vast estates from his mother. Forbes magazine estimates the monarchy controls around $42 billion in assets including palaces, property, art collections and jewels. Most of these were inherited from the king and they can't sell them.
There are three main portfolios.
The Crown Estate has a property portfolio worth around $20 billion, much of it prime real estate in central London. Last year it generated an income of $400m, but all profits from the Crown Estate go directly to the government.
The Duchy of Lancaster – a private portfolio owned by King Charles in a trust – owns thousands of hectares of land in England and Wales, including farms, shops and offices. It's smaller, worth about $800m in net assets. Last year it provided $30m of income for the monarch.
The Royal Family incurs unpublished costs, which some estimate could push their total cost to be as high as $500m per year. /Ed Sykes/Reuters
The Duchy of Cornwall is another private estate owned by the Royal Family and was passed to the heir to the throne, Prince William, on the death of the Queen. Its portfolio is worth just over a billion dollars and provided an income of $26m in 2022.
King Charles paid just over $7 million in tax last year.
There are no official figures for the impact of the Royal Family on the British economy. But with millions of tourists visiting Britain each year, the pomp and pageantry of royalty is one of the draws.
The only published research was by Brand Finance back in 2017, which estimated that the monarchy brought in some $3 billion in tourist revenues. According to the palace, in 2022 visitors spent $85m on admission charges to royal palaces and a further $24 million on royal collection gift shops.
But it's hard to put a value on the soft power yielded by royal overseas tours and hosting heads of state at Buckingham Palace.
King Charles says that in these tough economic times he will need to cut costs and has outlined plans to reduce the size of the monarchy. But the debate over value for money isn't about to go away.
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