King Charles hit hard by cost of living crisis
As the cost of living crisis continues around the world, it seems even those at the very top are not as immune from the financial uncertainty as expected.
King Charles and the royal family are the latest hit by the crisis, with the Crown Estate losing half a billion pounds (approx. $950 million AUD) on its London property portfolio after the value of retail space crashed.
King Charles was reportedly forced to dip into the royal reserves by £21 million (approx. $40 million AUD) due to overspending by the Palace, while staff have implemented a number of cost-cutting measures across the various royal estates including turning down the heating.
Following a year of "unprecedented" royal activity that saw both the death of Queen Elizabeth and the coronation of King Charles, Buckingham Palace's net expenditure grew by more than £5 million this year, to £107.5 million (approx. $203 million AUD) in just a few short months.
The spending was used on events such as the Queen Elizabeth II's Platinum Jubilee, the Queen's funeral, preparation for the King's coronation and the joining of two royal households.
During a media briefing on Tuesday, Sir Michael Stevens, keeper of the royal family's Sovereign Grant, emphasised that it had been "an exceptional year" for the royal household.
He said the financial strain related to a year of "grief, change and celebration, the like of which our nation has not witnessed for seven decades".
The historic events, he said, have "inevitably entailed additional burdens on resources" to ensure that they were "delivered safely and smoothly, and that the change of reign was effected as seamlessly as possible at a time of great national and international interest".
The Platinum Jubilee cost £700,000 (approx. $1.3 million AUD), while the Queen's funeral cost £1.6 million (approx. $3.5 million AUD).
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