How Rich King Charles Actually Is
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00:00 The Bank of England may have been busy printing money with King Charles III's face on it,
00:04 but little is known about how much money he makes, or how much he's worth.
00:08 The King has arrived, and with a pocket full of dough.
00:11 Did you know that King Charles once had to work as a waiter
00:14 to support his personal pursuits as an actor?
00:16 Huh? Oh, that was Charlie Sheen.
00:18 Oh, so they're not the same person.
00:21 Nah, that was, that became secondary, and what became the thrust of what I was saying.
00:25 Charles is rich, rich, and I'm talking rich, rich.
00:30 Like, your pockets couldn't handle this type of cash flow.
00:33 How much is he worth, exactly?
00:35 Let's find out.
00:36 Firstly, it's important to remember that King Charles was, in fact,
00:40 born into Britain's wealthiest family.
00:42 I take this opportunity to continue the tradition.
00:45 The King himself was sort of set up.
00:48 As the firstborn son of Queen Elizabeth II,
00:51 Charles was already next in line to gain access to the British throne,
00:55 meaning he would also gain access to the Duchy of Cornwall.
00:58 He succeeds me as Duke of Cornwall,
01:01 and takes on the responsibilities for the Duchy of Cornwall.
01:05 An estate that holds tons of properties, land, and secret royal assets,
01:10 which consists of practically everything good you could ever think of.
01:14 So let's just say this man, Charles,
01:16 had a bit of a head start in the rags to riches race.
01:19 The private wealth of King Charles III is estimated to be £600 million.
01:23 The King began earning a decent chunk of change as a child.
01:27 When Charles was a kid,
01:29 his mom, Queen Elizabeth, was already next in line
01:31 to inherit the many assets of the crown estate.
01:34 This means that baby Charles was wealthier than you could really ever imagine.
01:39 Put it this way, before Charles was crawling,
01:41 he probably could have purchased an Aston Martin.
01:43 I mean, theoretically, of course.
01:45 I don't think he had a baby bank account set up to make the purchase of a car,
01:49 but baby Charles sure as heck could have found himself in the driver's seat like James Bond.
01:53 Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip spend a happy afternoon
01:56 with the world's most famous baby.
01:58 And I know what you're going to say.
01:59 Babies can't drive.
02:01 But in baby Charles's defense,
02:03 he'd probably be a safer driver than most people in London.
02:06 Now that I think of it, has Charles ever driven a car in his life?
02:10 Okay, we're getting off track now.
02:12 Once Charles's mother took over the throne as a three-year-old kid,
02:16 Charles was already set up with the Duchy of Cornwall.
02:19 This private estate consisted of land, homes, and commercial properties,
02:24 and was practically served to Charles on a golden platter.
02:28 According to the Guardian,
02:29 the future king earned approximately £265,000 from this estate,
02:35 which obviously only grew as he got older.
02:38 This begs the question,
02:39 as an adult, how much did Charles make annually before becoming king?
02:43 Well, to answer that question,
02:45 the wealth of then-Prince Charles, now King Charles,
02:48 and his wife, Queen Camilla,
02:50 is primarily derived from the Duchy of Cornwall,
02:52 which generated £28 million in profits for the couple in 2018 alone,
02:58 thus representing around 90% of their income.
03:01 Prince Charles, now king, obviously,
03:03 also received £1.8 million from the Sovereign Grant,
03:07 a special grant which I will dive into in a moment.
03:10 On top of that, he also received around £600,000
03:13 from other government departments.
03:14 So let's talk crown estate.
03:16 King Charles, the man with the golden pockets.
03:19 His secret weapon?
03:20 Like I mentioned, the crown estate.
03:22 But what exactly is the crown estate, you might ask?
03:24 It's basically as rich and prestigious as it sounds.
03:27 Picture a wagyu filet mignon wrapped in gold flakes,
03:30 sitting on a diamond plate,
03:32 being served to you on a private jet made out of Bitcoin.
03:35 Yes, you can make a jet out of Bitcoin.
03:37 Why not?
03:38 The crown estate is a real estate portfolio
03:40 with a net worth that is so big,
03:42 it could make an egg crack itself if it heard this number.
03:46 That is, of course, if the egg understood English.
03:48 The crown estate is worth a whopping £19 billion.
03:51 Yeah, you heard me right.
03:54 This estate is like a royal monopoly board,
03:56 featuring 190,000 acres of posh rural land,
04:01 including coastlines, forests, farms, you name it, he owns it.
04:05 And it's not just your average backyard.
04:08 We're talking Ascot Racecourse and Regent Street.
04:11 Uh, you know, the shopping hub of London?
04:13 Queen Elizabeth was no slouch either.
04:15 She turned this property portfolio into a real estate empire,
04:19 allowing King Charles to literally roll around in the royal dough.
04:23 Cue the majestic laughter.
04:25 Ha ha ha.
04:26 Now let's not forget the taxpayer's pounds.
04:28 As if he hasn't got a big enough checkbook already,
04:31 why not take money from your own hard-working people's taxes, right?
04:34 Remember the sovereign grant from earlier?
04:36 Yes, that multi-million pound grant.
04:39 Well, what I might have glossed over is the fact that the grant is calculated
04:43 based on the yearly profits of the crown estate,
04:46 which usually ends up being around 25%, according to BBC.
04:50 So yeah, we fellow blokes are paying direct tax money into Charles' pockets.
04:56 Honestly, Charles, you take e-transfer?
04:59 It's so much easier these days than filing these taxes.
05:03 What about the times he's gotten away with not paying taxes on his own assets?
05:07 See, it's no secret that after the passing of Queen Elizabeth,
05:10 King Charles got the royal jackpot.
05:13 This meant inheriting her impressive stash of assets,
05:16 which according to Forbes, is valued at a jaw-dropping 46 billion pounds.
05:22 Now here's the kicker.
05:23 The king didn't have to cough up a single pound in taxes on this inheritance.
05:28 While the regular folks like you and I in the UK
05:31 face a hefty 40% inheritance tax on anything over £374,000,
05:37 King Charles gets a golden pass.
05:39 Why, you ask?
05:40 Well, it's just history.
05:42 It turns out there was a nifty 1993 agreement
05:44 between the royal family and former Prime Minister of England John Majors.
05:48 What's insane is that this deal, only fit for a king,
05:51 declares that any assets passed down through the sovereign to sovereign are tax-free.
05:56 Because it's all about maintaining a degree of financial independence
06:00 from the government of the current day.
06:03 And in this case, the king reigns supreme.
06:05 Well, with tax evasion and all, of course.
06:08 On top of all this, Charles owns 7 palaces, 10 castles, 12 homes,
06:12 56 cottages, 14 ancient ruins, and 300 residential properties.
06:17 Yahtzee!
06:18 And he has a car collection worth $15 million.
06:21 So maybe he can drive, after all.
06:23 And honestly, after hearing all these outrageous numbers,
06:25 only allocating $15 million for your car collection sounds pretty lame, Charles.
06:30 Oh wait, it all makes sense!
06:31 Because get ready for this.
06:33 His horse collection is valued at over 30 million pounds.
06:37 Yes!
06:38 Horses!
06:39 Imagine having 30 million pounds worth of horses.
06:42 There must be some joke here about horse power, right?
06:44 Something?
06:45 No?
06:46 Can't think of one?
06:46 I got none.
06:48 I got nay jokes.
06:49 Sorry.
06:50 So how rich is the current king of England?
06:52 Well, it's hard to put a specific dollar tag on his riches.
06:55 But after doing a bunch of number crunching and whatnot,
06:58 sources estimate that Charles' personal net worth is at least 2.3 billion pounds.
07:03 That dollar figure remains completely separate from the value of the crown estate,
07:07 which, as we mentioned, is worth an unbearable amount of money.
07:10 It is important to remember, though, that with all of that cash flow
07:13 and the assets under his name,
07:15 Charles still remains philanthropic and charitable.
07:18 King Charles devotes a considerable chunk of his wealth towards charity,
07:22 as he champions various charitable causes through the King's Trust.
07:26 This endeavor that was launched in 1976 aims to provide better opportunities
07:30 for disadvantaged youth through education and employment programs.
07:34 And according to the royal family's website,
07:36 the King's Trust believes in offering every young person the chance to succeed,
07:40 regardless of their background or their challenges.
07:43 And in nearly five decades of royal benevolence,
07:46 the king has steered over one million people towards education or employment.
07:50 So thank you, Charles.
07:51 So, yes.
07:52 The new king seems to be well in the riches
07:55 and will probably never have to take a job as a waiter again,
07:59 unless something goes horribly wrong.
08:01 In which I hope he picks a good old traditional English pub.
08:04 Imagine Sir Charles is your waiter at the pub one day.
08:07 Well, I'd still order the good old fish and chips with extra tartar sauce, of course.
08:11 What surprised you most about Charles's wealth?
08:14 Whose wealth should we dive into next?
08:16 Let us know in the comments below.
08:18 And until then, keep your head high
08:20 and don't let any babies get behind the wheel of your Aston Martin.
08:24 That is, of course, unless they are next in line for the throne.