A Note From The UK Editor
The British royal family and real estate are inextricably intertwined. Much of its wealth and income is derived from land and property — with a lineage tracing back more than 1,000 years, the monarchy has had time to build up quite the portfolio.
In honour of the coronation of King Charles III at Westminster Abbey (left), Bisnow has compiled some of its best reporting from recent years on the sometimes strange, always arcane and usually very profitable ways in which the Crown and the royal family get involved in the sector.
There is Charles himself, who as Prince was an exponent of sustainability and placemaking from the late 1990s on, espousing values that real estate is now embracing. But his views on architecture and design have often caused controversy, and like many property professionals, he launched a fund during the last boom that hit the skids during the Global Financial Crisis.
Then there is the Crown Estate, a property company like perhaps no other in the world, which owns more than £15B of assets that are hereditary possessions of the Sovereign, held “in right of the Crown”, where the profits go to the British state. It owns everything from London offices and retail to the British seabed, and, for a 1,000-year-old estate, is at the forefront in areas like renewable energy and sustainability.
As well as that, and more controversially, the family owns huge swathes of UK land and property privately, from which it derives tens of millions of pounds of income. Whether one family should be able to retain such estates in perpetuity is an open question.
The articles below explore many of these unique facets, as does a podcast which dives even deeper into the history behind how the monarchy built up its vast property holdings. Long live the King!
Mike Phillips, Bisnow UK Editor | May 5, 2023
THE NEW KING
When it comes to real estate, there have been plenty of highs and lows for Charles III over the past 30 years.
THE CROWN ESTATE
On the death of Elizabeth II, Bisnow looked at how the Crown's property company reflects both change and continuity in UK real estate.
PRIVATE PROPERTY
Investigations have highlighted how much private property the royal family owns, and just how much it relies on the sector for income.
THE PODCAST
Miriam Hall, David Thame and Mike Phillips talk through the wild and wonderful history that gave the royal family its huge real estate empire.
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