Prince William got a tricky question about his finances this week from an unlikely source, an 11-year-old boy.
While in Manchester, a boy asked the Prince of Wales: “How much do you have in your bank account?” To which William replied that he “didn’t know”.
The question came as Kate Middleton was blasted for opening last night’s Children in Need where she made a speech about the fundraising event while wearing a £315 blouse.
Viewers took to social media to complain about her appearance. One said on X (formerly Twitter): “I hope Kate Middleton is going to announce a 10 percent cut in Royal funding from public taxes. Think how much that would raise for charity,”
Other users added: “What the hell is Kate doing opening Children in Need? So out of touch. Not a good start.” and: “A billionaire opening the Children In Need show on BBC. Asking society for donations. Tone deaf, @bbc…”
One said: “So Kate Middleton who owns several homes just popped up on #ChildrenInNeed, last year it raised about £20m. Or £354m less than we gave the royals to t**t up Buckingham Palace. The hypocrisy.”
And thanks to annual public reports, we can know William and Kate’s staggering fortune.
Upon the death of Queen Elizabeth, the now Prince and Princess of Wales inherited a host of titles as well as the Duchy of Cornwall.
The vast private estate is estimated to be worth around £1billion. It is 52,000 hectares of land across 20 counties, mostly in the southwest, to be run by the Prince of Wales. William receives a private income from the Duchy of around £6million a year.
At the end of the 2022-2023 financial year, the Duchy had a profit of £24million. According to Kensington Palace, the King was entitled to £11million and William to almost £13million
But as a “one-off associated with the change in Dukes of Cornwall”, the Duchy asked to keep some of the profit for the running of the estate. It was split £6.8million to the Duchy and £5.9million to the Prince.
William already had millions in the bank from the inheritance left to him by his mother. Princess Diana left her son £10million after her death, according to the Times.
He is also believed to have been left a large sum by his great-grandmother, the Queen Mother, when she died in 2002.
