Monarch brings new discipline to royal spending and housing arrangements
King Charles is reshaping the royal household with a sharp focus on accountability and efficiency. According to royal author Robert Jobson in The Windsor Legacy, the King has launched a major reform campaign to streamline palace operations, tighten spending, and ensure that every pound of public and private income is justified.
The process began soon after his accession, when Charles moved to reduce staff and replace layers of outdated bureaucracy with a results-driven structure. His reforms cover both the Sovereign Grant, funded by taxpayers, and his private Duchy of Lancaster income. “The old ways made no sense. Change had to come,” said one insider, describing a Palace determined to swap tradition for transparency.
Departments are now expected to operate leaner teams while offering fairer pay and stronger pensions to top performers. Extended family members are also feeling the effects of the King’s new approach. Subsidised housing and quiet financial support are being phased out, with independence now encouraged. Royal sources say their daughters have been told to manage their own affairs without relying on royal privileges.
Charles has reportedly grown frustrated by some relatives treating royal residences as casual accommodation. Over time, several extended royals benefited from low-rent apartments inside palace grounds, which their children often used as convenient city flats. That practice is ending. “The King isn’t running a housing association for distant relatives,” a source commented.
Future plans will see certain royal properties rented at market rates to approved tenants, signalling a clear shift toward financial realism within the monarchy. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s removal from Frogmore Cottage in 2023, after the release of Harry’s memoir, marked the first major step in this new era of royal reform.
