Buckingham Palace wants to “modernize and evolve”. This is why this Thursday, June 25, King Charles III published the details of his taxes. If he had already made his finances public when he was Prince of Wales, this is a first for a sovereign in office in the United Kingdom.
This measure, which will be applied every year from 2026, was taken in reaction to the numerous criticisms that recent revelations concerning the royal family had generated. Like, for example, the fact that the king’s brother targeted by accusations of sexual assault, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, had occupied a vast property located on the Windsor estate for twenty years at the taxpayer’s expense.
From scandals to disenchantment
For several years, the “Firm”, as the royal family is ironically nicknamed, has embarked on a real seduction operation. And for good reason: at the time of his accession to the throne, Charles III was considered by polls to be the most unloved sovereign in the history of the British monarchy. Recently, an Ipsos poll further showed that barely 55% of the country’s population were in favor of maintaining the monarchy, compared to 80% in 2012.
This disenchantment comes in part from the scandals that have plagued the Windsors in recent decades (such as Charles’ turbulent love life, the accusations against his brother Andrew, etc.). But the unpopularity of the royal family can also be explained by the clash between a centuries-old way of operating and an ultra-connected 21st century.
Indeed, for more than seventy years of reign, Buckingham Palace had as its watchword the slogan “Never complain, never explain”, displaying a silence which could sometimes shock the population.
A 2.0 communication strategy
It was not until the last decade of the reign of Elizabeth II that the British monarchy changed its communication strategy. Smiles, spontaneous interactions, occasional hugs with the public… The Windsors are abandoning the distant posture of the past century and gradually adopting a warmer – but equally calculated – style.
From the 2010s, the royal family registered on Twitter and YouTube, then, later, Instagram. Behind the scenes of official events, moments of daily life… This new, more relaxed approach allows its members to be more accessible.
Presenting themselves as a “classic” English family, the couple formed by Prince William and Katherine Middleton are thus propelled as the new brand image of this 2.0 generation. On Instagram, they have 4 million more followers than the official royal family account, and participate in several documentaries – which was unimaginable at the time of the accession of Elizabeth II. Presented as the ambassadors of the future of royalty, their children George, Charlotte and Louis are also highlighted, in photographs of birthdays or family celebrations that are more relaxed than the old official portraits.
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Additional sign of this desire to “desacralize” the royal function: Buckingham communicated in 2024 on the state of health of Katherine Middleton and King Charles, both suffering from cancer. A small revolution across the Channel, the health of the royal family having always been taboo. In 1952, the throat cancer of King George VI, the father of Elizabeth II, was hidden from the public.
Defender of a tighter monarchy
Already, upon his accession to the throne, King Charles III simplified his coronation celebrations, presented as more sober than a traditional royal ceremony. Defender of a tighter and less expensive monarchy, the sovereign is also reducing the number of active members of the royal family, while each of them receives an annual salary, sometimes up to several million pounds, for their presence at official events.
The son of Elizabeth II also decides to pay income tax and that on capital gains, from which he is historically exempt. And in 2024, parts of Buckingham Palace never before made public will be open to visitors.
However, these initiatives do not prevent the royal family from being accused in 2022 of bills of more than 16 million euros, at the expense of the taxpayer, for travel in private jets and helicopters. And two years earlier, Charles III, although a fervent defender of ecology, was already singled out for having emitted more than 162 tonnes of CO2 in eleven days. Eighteen times more than the quantity produced by a British subject in a year.
