Queen Camilla will not receive $470,000 allowance given to Prince Philip

Queen Camilla will not receive an annual sum of $470,000 from the UK government as funding for her official duties — despite the late Prince Phillip receiving the money up until his death.

The Duke of Edinburgh, who died aged 99 in April 2021, received the annual payment from parliament due to him being a consort.

The royal family’s funding and budget were recently reviewed by the UK’s independent public spending watchdog in a desperate bid to improve transparency, The Telegraph reports.

The National Audit Office (NAO) carried out the report, published Friday, revealing that King Charles’ wife will not be receiving an annuity, unlike the late Duke of Edinburgh, Queen Elizabeth II’s late husband.

“Parliament provided Prince Philip with a separate annuity worth $470,000 (£359,000) per annum,” they said in the report.

“Queen Camilla will not receive a separate annuity and the Queen’s activities will be funded from the Grant.”

And even after the royal family changed the way in which they pay for their official engagements, Prince Phillip still continued to receive the sum up until his death.

In 2011, the old-style Civil List, which consisted of several grants from the government to cover official expenses, was replaced by the Sovereign Grant — something that is used by the royals today.

King Charles’ upcoming schedule — which is reportedly much busier than his late mother’s was — might have a knock-on effect on future funding, according to the report.

“Each king and queen has their own interests and priorities which affect their schedule of event,” the report said.

“Her late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II had cut back on events and travel in recent years, in part because of the global Covid-19 pandemic.”

“It can be reasonably assumed that the King will be hosting more events and traveling to more engagements within the UK, and overseas at the request of the government,” the report added.

Despite questions over future funding, the NAO is confident there are enough funds in the Sovereign Grant to cover the King and Queen’s expenses.

“These changes may affect spending profiles but would be within available funding from the Grant,” it said.

The change in funding comes just months after the royal family announced it was carrying out a 10-year-long renovation of Buckingham Palace, the official royal residence.

Costing upward of $400 million, the project is already underway.

“The Royal Household told us that the project is on track and is not expected to go over budget,” Friday’s report added.

What is the Sovereign Grant?

The Sovereign Grant is an amount of funding that is used to cover expenses for the royals’ official business and state visits.

It also covers staff costs and running expenses of the royal household of each royal residence, as well as banquet receptions and parties.

In exchange for using the grant to pay for said funds, the King gives revenue from the Crown Estate to the government.

The Sovereign Grant is calculated based on 25% of the Crown Estate’s annual profits, which last year generated $580 million, according to the estate’s official website.