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It was the King’s express wish that his personal tax bill was revealed, Buckingham Palace said |
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Hannah Furness Royal Editor |
Change is in the air at Buckingham Palace, on not one but two fronts.
First, the King has revealed his taxes for the first time and – spoiler alert! – he falls within the top 100 taxpayers in Britain.
Second, the King and Queen will never live at Buckingham Palace.
After a £369m refurbishment, the decision may open them up to criticism. However, as someone who has been fortunate to spend some time there, I can understand it.
Buckingham Palace is many things to many people: an office, a venue, a garden, a magnet for tourists, the best-known balcony in the world, an inspiration for AA Milne’s poetry and James Bond Olympic stunts, and the symbol of a nation. It is not, however, a home.
The decision to move the monarch’s official residence officially brings to an end the living arrangements established under Queen Victoria |
Royal finances are famously complex and this year – with more than 400 pages of documents and three Palace briefings in a heatwave – was no exception.
What emerged was that the King has paid more than £30m since he ascended the throne in 2022, with a tax bill of £12.9m in 2024-25 putting him in the top 100 taxpayers in Britain.
The royal accounts also reveal that the Prince of Wales paid £7.76m in income and capital gains tax in the most recent financial year.
You can find our full coverage of this story below.
King has opened the books – here’s what we learnt ➤
This report is available only to subscribers.
King and Queen will never live at Buckingham Palace ➤
Hannah Furness: Buckingham Palace is the beating heart of the monarchy – but not a home ➤ |
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Anita Singh The convicted sex offender seeks to rehabilitate his image as he offers ‘thoughts on matters of national and local interest’ Continue reading ➤
David Frost The NHS won’t stop killing people, and nobody seems to care Continue reading ➤
Sherelle Jacobs Scratch beneath the shiny Manchester surface and a different Andy Burnham emerges Continue reading ➤ |
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Gonzalo Plata scored the winner for Ecuador against Germany |
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Sam Wallace Chief Football Writer, in New Jersey |
At last, a 2026 World Cup game that embodied the spirit of the competition: a team putting it all on the line to beat one of football’s biggest names.
Ecuador are not without big players or recent achievements. They came second in the South American 18-game qualification, but the tournament had not gone well for them previously. Against Germany in New Jersey, they produced a superb performance to win and now could be one of England’s opponents in the round of 32 after claiming one of the third-place berths.
Chelsea’s £115m midfielder Moisés Caicedo is the star of the team and Paris St-Germain’s Willian Pacho is a key man. But the winner came from Gonzalo Plata, a 25-year-old playing for Flamengo in Brazil. The New York Ecuadorian diaspora was there to support them and the scenes at full time were joyful.
Read the full report here ➤
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Andrew Castle has covered Wimbledon for the BBC for the last 23 years |
As the experienced pundit and presenter Andrew Castle prepares for his 24th and final Wimbledon with the BBC, he admits that he had hoped for at least one more year, especially as next summer’s 150th Championships would have completed his own quarter-century in the commentary box. However, he isn’t completely downcast, not with more job offers to go to and a colourful career to discuss. Continue reading ➤ |
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Children have been banned from paddling pools during the heatwave, after an emergency hosepipe ban was imposed. South East Water has issued restrictions on homes across Kent, with water to be used only for essential daily needs, including “hygiene, drinking and cooking”.
So, how should you cool off? Certainly not with an electric fan, writes Christopher Howse. For a start they make an annoying whirring sound. Then, when someone else is using one, it blows on to you nasty effluvia, of which the London Underground or a London bus is not short. The same crimes are not committed by elegant and traditional fans. The rise of their electric counterparts is an abomination. What’s next, portable water blasters?
Continue reading ➤
Thunderstorms strike Britain as heatwave rumbles on ➤ |
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Across Britain, housing developments, power projects and transport schemes are being delayed by decisions from Natural England, the quango tasked with protecting the country’s natural environment. Critics say its zeal for bats, jumping spiders and other species is stifling growth without delivering better outcomes for nature. With calls mounting for radical reform, and even abolition, is it safeguarding our future or holding us back? Continue reading ➤ |
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Ros Belford in in Mussomeli, which has sold more €1 houses than anywhere else in Italy |
The Sicilian town of Mussomeli has become a poster child for Italy’s “€1 house” scheme, in which properties are sold for pennies in an attempt to bring life back to rural communities. The dream is of young families from across Europe living in happy coexistence with Italian nonnas. Ros Belford has discovered that the reality is far more complicated.
Continue reading ➤
The plot to kill off Britain’s holiday home dream ➤ |
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Relying on one pot of cash to last your entire retirement can make it seem impossible to know whether you can afford that big holiday now, without risking running out of money later. Enter the “bucket method”, writes Holly Mackay, our expert, which separates your money tactically, so your pension lasts as long as you do. For subscribers only ➤ Here is another article that I hope you’ll find helpful this morning:
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‘A moody heroine and dialogue with all the snap of an HR tribunal’ |
Film Supergirl ★★☆☆☆ Hollywood has given us a number of reluctant heroes over the years, but the title character of the new Supergirl may be the first who can barely be bothered to show up. Milly Alcock’s surly Supergirl just about makes sense as a thought experiment: if Superman is still banging the drum for good old red-white-and-blue American optimism, how is his younger Gen Z cousin meant to feel about that? The obvious awkward question is, if she doesn’t even want to be here, why should we?
Read Robbie Collin’s full review ➤ Theatre Cyrano de Bergerac ★★★★★ Trailing rapturous reviews, the RSC’s revival of Edmond Rostand’s Cyrano de Bergerac, starring Adrian Lester as the lovelorn poet with an enormous conk, dances into the West End. What a joy it is to see it there. Complete with prosthetic nose, Lester’s performance is luminous and Simon Evans’s production revels in the play’s radiant comedy.
Read Claire Allfree’s full review ➤ Book The Nord Stream Conspiracy by Bojan Pancevski ★★★★★ In 2022, a team of Ukrainian divers headed towards a yachting resort on Germany’s Baltic coast, primed for a top-secret undercover mission. If stopped by police, they were ready to claim that they were making an aquatic-themed pornographic film. Few would have believed the real mission: to blow up the Nord Stream pipelines, the four 750-mile conduits designed to carry cheap Russian gas to Germany. For the first time, the men behind the bombing reveal how they did it.
Read Colin Freeman’s full review ➤ |
Flat earth fansWhile Orlando Bird, our loyal reader correspondent, is away, Joe Burgis is on hand to share an off-piste topic that has brought out the best of your opinions and stories. Joe writes...
I was staggered to learn that, in 2019, a YouGov survey found that 3 per cent of Britons think the world is probably or definitely flat. Luckily, Sarah Knapton, our resident myth-buster, has turned her attention to this most persistent of conspiracy theories.
Readers were inclined to agree that the facts are unlikely to persuade a flat-Earther to change their position. Peter Carr wrote: “Conspiracy theorists are holders of the secret knowledge. No matter what or how evidence is presented to them, they know the truth. They are fascinating psychologically, but make dreary companions.”
Andrew Skinner recalled an illuminating encounter: “I argued with a flat-Earther once on an otherwise sensible engineering forum. He asked for evidence, only to scoff at it: ‘I’ve heard all that before, give me real evidence, like a picture’. We gave him a picture and he wanted a video, since ‘pictures could be faked’. The video was similarly rejected, and we were accused of not wanting to ‘take the red pill’.”
Not to be outdone, Jake Ox formulated a conspiracy theory about the conspiracy theorists: “I think flat-Earthers know they are wrong but enjoy rage-baiting people for the fun of it.” So where’s your evidence, Jake?
Well, Steve Wright provided it: “My dad is a mariner who has circumnavigated the world many times in his career. As a teenager, one of my favourite things was telling him that the world is flat and that he was part of the conspiracy – purely to see him get wound up by it.”
Meanwhile, Jack Hughes proposed a means of finding common ground: “This is a discussion that is best reserved for the fourth pint. It all makes sense then. That said, a lot of things do.” That’s all from me folks. I’ll be back tomorrow to bring you the best Telegraph talking points. In the meantime, you can contact me here.
Please confirm in your reply that you are happy to be featured and that we have your permission to use your name. |
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1977 | Elvis Presley’s final concert at Market Square Arena in Indianapolis
1996 | Gareth Southgate misses a penalty as England lose to Germany in the Euro semi-final (see our front page from the following day below)
1997 | Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, the first book in JK Rowling’s series, is published
2017 | Theresa May strikes a deal with the Democratic Unionist Party to form a minority government
Birthdays: Ariana Grande (33), Chris O’Donnell (56), Sean Hayes (56)
Plus, in the news today, a Reform UK council put up temporary traffic lights on an A-road near Corby, closing off a 50m stretch to traffic. Why?
1. To fix a giant pothole
2. For a political stunt
3. Because of a dead deer
4. For roadworks a mile from there
Click one of the options to reveal the answer... |
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Find as many words as you can in today’s Panagram, including the nine-letter solution. Visit Telegraph Puzzles to play a range of head-scratching games, including The 1% Club, Cogs, and Quick, Mini or Cryptic Crosswords.
Yesterday’s Panagram was MACHINING. Come back tomorrow for the solution to today’s puzzle. |
Please let me know what you think of this newsletter. You can email me your feedback at fromtheeditor@telegraph.co.uk.
Thank you for reading. Have a fulfilling day and I hope to see you tomorrow.
Chris Evans, Editor |
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