The Blue Blood and the Green Windfall: The King’s Ecological Shell Game

The Crown’s Green Windfall: How the King Profits Millions from Your Energy Bills

On a cold Wednesday night at Windsor Castle, the stars aligned, not in the heavens, but in the Waterloo Chamber. Benedict Cumberbatch, Judi Dench, and Rod Stewart gathered for the first-ever film premiere in a royal residence. The feature? Finding Harmony: A King’s Vision, a ninety-minute hagiography of King Charles III’s lifelong environmental crusade.

As the credits rolled on this cinematic ode to nature, narrated by Kate Winslet, a more grounded reality remained hidden beneath the waves of the British coastline. It is a reality where “harmony” looks less like a spiritual connection to the earth and more like a balance sheet. The King’s devotion to the planet is, conveniently, one of the most profitable business ventures in the history of the House of Windsor.

A Royal Claim on the Waves

For centuries, the monarch’s ownership of the British seabed was a matter of dusty convention. Sovereignty stopped at the low-water mark. However, in 1962, Queen Elizabeth II reportedly observed that the Crown Estate should take over “rights on land under the sea.” The catalyst was the North Sea oil boom. By 1964, the Continental Shelf Act formalised this grab, ensuring that while the government managed the drilling, the Crown held the title.

Then came the “Green Revolution.” In 2004, Tony Blair’s government gifted the Crown the right to collect royalties from wind and wave power. It was a masterstroke of neoliberal policy: taking a public necessity, renewable energy, and anchoring its exploitation to a feudal relic.

The financial implications of this are staggering. The Crown Estate, acting as the King’s property manager, recently oversaw a seabed auction that brought bidding to record highs. These “option fees”, payments made by energy giants just to reserve a patch of sea, have pushed the Crown Estate’s net profits to a record £1.1 billion for two consecutive years.

The Mathematics of “Harmony”

Under the current Sovereign Grant formula, these profits are handed to the Treasury, which then returns a percentage to the Royal Household.

While the government recently lowered the percentage from 25% to 12% to account for the offshore wind “windfall,” the King is still set to receive a massive increase. In 2025/26, the grant is expected to jump to £132 million, a £45 million raise funded by the very energy crisis squeezing the pockets of his subjects.

The counterargument is simple: “But 75 to 88 percent goes to the Treasury! It funds public services!” This is a classic bait-and-switch. We are asked to be grateful that the public receives the majority of the revenue from its own natural resources, while a private family receives hundreds of millions for “upkeep” and “palace reservicing” simply because they happen to “own” the sea, not even by by birthright, but by decree from Tony Blair.

The Price of a Green Conscience

Orwell warned us about the use of “meaningless words” in politics. “Harmony” is one such word. In the documentary, the King speaks of a vision where humanity and nature exist in balance. But in the material world, this balance is skewed.

We are currently witnessing the enclosure of the commons on a maritime scale. The seabed is not a royal garden; it is a vital national asset. Why should a transition to green energy involve paying a tithe to a monarch? If the climate crisis is indeed an existential threat, every penny of that £1.1 billion should be reinvested directly into lowering energy bills for the 7 million homes these turbines power, not into refurbishing the East Wing of Buckingham Palace.

The King is undoubtedly sincere in his love for the environment. It is easy to be a visionary when the vision pays so well. But true environmentalism requires the dismantling of the very power structures that allow one man to profit from the wind that blows across a nation’s shores.

The monarchy’s “green” vision is a luxury the British public can no longer afford to subsidise.

A King’s vision is a fine thing, but a people’s sovereignty is better.

Paul Knaggs

Editor & founder of Labour Heartlands. 𝙁𝙧𝙚𝙚𝙗𝙤𝙧𝙣 𝙀𝙣𝙜𝙡𝙞𝙨𝙝 𝙍𝙖𝙙𝙞𝙘𝙖𝙡 𝙎𝙤𝙘𝙞𝙖𝙡𝙞𝙨𝙩. Citizen journalist and veteran writing from the working-class coalface challenging the corruption, liberal elitism, and political complacency that dominate Britain today. Dyslexic but driven… I write because silence serves the powerful. Defender of free speech, civil liberties, and real democracy. Committed to an open, accountable democracy, not the manufactured version handed down from party machines, think tanks, or the Westminster bubble.