Another day, another royal headache for Downing Street. The King’s tax bill, published this morning, contains three anomalies that have sent the Palace spin doctors into overdrive. Sources close to the Treasury admit they were blindsided.
The anomalies? A disputed land valuation in Windsor, an offshore trust linked to the Duchy of Lancaster, and a suddenly dormant art collection valued at £50m. The Commons Public Accounts Committee is already calling for an urgent hearing.
Labour MP Sarah Jones tells me: “This is about transparency. The monarchy cannot expect to be above the rules the rest of us live by.” The Palace insists it’s all a “clerical error.
” But in the Lobby, the word is that Number 10 is nervous. A senior Tory backbencher, speaking on condition of anonymity, warns: “If this spirals, it could reignite the debate on royal finances. The last thing Sunak needs is a crisis of trust in the palace when he’s already drowning in metrics.
” The timing is appalling. The government is haemorrhaging support in the polls. Reform UK is snapping at their heels.
And now this. The anomaly of the dormant art collection is particularly damaging. It suggests the Palace may have been sitting on assets to avoid inheritance tax.
A former Palace official tells me: “The art was valued at £10m five years ago. Now it’s £50m. That’s not a clerical error.
That’s either a failure to disclose or a deliberate undervaluation.” The Treasury’s response? Deafening silence.
They’ve referred all questions to the Palace, who in turn refer to the Royal Trustees. It’s a game of hot potato. Meanwhile, the Speaker has granted an urgent question for tomorrow afternoon.
Expect fireworks. The King’s tax bill is usually a formality. Not this time.
This is a story that has legs. The Lobby is buzzing. I’m hearing from multiple sources that a group of Labour MPs is already drafting a bill to force the Palace to submit to full HMRC audits.
If that happens, the monarchy’s finances could be laid bare for the first time. The Palace knows it. That’s why they’re trying to kill this story before it hatches.
But the genie is out of the bottle. Three anomalies. Three questions the Palace cannot answer.
And a growing sense that the institution’s immunity is cracking. For Sunak, it’s another headache. For the Palace, it’s a watershed moment.
Watch this space.
