King Charles III has inherited assets that have propelled his wealth to almost £2bn, The Guardian reports.
The British Daily has arrived at the figure after "extensive research and analysis."
"All told, Charles’s private wealth is estimated to total £1.815bn. That figure is three times larger than a recent calculation by the Sunday Times, which did not include several of his most valuable assets, The Guardian report claimed.
The monarch’s personal fortune is largely concealed from public scrutiny and it is impossible to know the complete value of his estate.
However, The Guardian has conducted the first comprehensive audit of the king’s assets, from country piles and diamond-encrusted jewels, to paintings by Monet and Dalí, Rolls-Royces, racehorses and rare stamps.
"The research throws into sharp relief the Windsor family’s most valuable financial asset: total immunity from inheritance tax. It has probably allowed Charles to receive his mother’s wealth free of any contribution to the public purse," the report said.
The difficulty, according to the report, in disentangling public from private wealth is illustrated by the Windsors’ fleet of Rolls-Royces, Bentleys and Jaguars. The Guardian identified 23 vehicles at the Royal Mews at Buckingham Palace and Sandringham, the king’s private estate in Norfolk.
Some royal cars are privately owned or loaned to the Windsors by manufacturers. Others are held by the sovereign “in right of the crown”, which means they are not private property but held by the monarch on behalf of the nation, the report said.
Confusing matters further, the report added that, vehicles designated “state cars” are sometimes used privately, such as when Princess Eugenie, who has never been a working royal, arrived at her wedding in a “state” 1977 Rolls-Royce Phantom VI worth £1.3m.