King and Queen will not live at Buckingham Palace after £369m refit

King Charles and Queen Camilla will not move into Buckingham Palace when £369m of buildings works to update it finish next year, preferring to remain at Clarence House, their London home nearby. The announcement came as it was revealed the king paid £12.9m in income and capital gains tax in 2024-25 on his personal income, known as the privy purse, making him among the country’s top 100 taxpayers. Prince William paid £7.76m for the same period. Palace finances also revealed that the core sovereign grant – the amount of public money given to the king to carry out official duties – had almost doubled in three years. From 2027-28 it will be £99.9m, up from £51.8m in 2024-25, after a review by the royal trustees: the UK prime minister, Keir Starmer; the chancellor, Rachel Reeves; and the king’s accountant and keeper of the privy purse, James Chalmers. Charles and Camilla made the decision not to move to Buckingham Palace after “careful consideration and to greatly increase opportunities for public access”, and will remain at Clarence House for the duration of his reign, said Chalmers. They would have access to private rooms at the palace to retire to during the day and for occasional overnight stays. It would continue to be the ceremonial and operational centre of royal life. “[Buckingham Palace] is and will remain monarchy HQ, the crown jewel of our national buildings, with the sovereign’s standard flying proudly from the roof whenever his majesty is in London ,” said Chalmers. …