A royal family financial expose is set to air on Saturday and is being labelled as an investigation into the origins of their funds.
Dispatches took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to tease of the show: “For years the royals have tried to keep details of some of their wealth secret. Now Dispatches has found what they’ve not wanted you to know.
“With exclusive analysis of documents not seen in public before, we reveal who is paying them, and for what.” The short trailer promises to unveil the mystery of “how much it’s costing us to keep Charles and William rich”.
“The King, the Prince, and their Secret Millions” will air on Saturday at 8:10pm and promises to be a riveting watch. It’s known that the government pays a Sovereign Grant annually to fund the royal household – but it isn’t the King’s sole source of income.
The sum assists with the upkeep of lavish royal properties, while helping the family pay for their staff and any costs associated with royal duties. Thousands of engagements are typically undertaken by the royals in any given year, including international commitments, so costs can mount up.
Meanwhile, funds raised from the monarch’s property business, the Crown Estate, are channelled into the Treasury.
The business includes billions of pounds worth of real estate in London alone.
Other sources of wealth for the royals include jewellery and artwork collections.
Britons have debated over the years whether taxpayers’ funds should be spent on maintaining the wealth of the monarchy or not, and the new documentary promises to lift the lid on little known aspects of how their money is made.
Meanwhile, the royals also pride themselves on giving back to the communities they serve.
Prince William has just taken part in a documentary series where he reiterated his desire to eradicate homelessness in numerous key cities within five years.
The project, which was filmed over a period of nine months and saw him distribute food in kitchens for vulnerable people while also having meetings on the right strategies to use to combat homelessness, has received mixed reviews.
The prince has been compared to his late mother Princess Diana, who was also passionate about ending adversity and inequality, and taught him about homelessness as a child.