The Dark Secret Behind the Royal Family's Wealth | Empires of Dirt

Buckingham Palace has announced the death of Queen Elizabeth II, the longest-reigning monarch in British history. You might have heard— the Queen is dead, and the world is in mourning. Really quite surprised at how emotional I felt, actually.

Sort of like a numb, empty feeling. Take down the bunting from the Jubilee, paint it black, and, respectfully, hang it up again. But respect doesn’t have to mean reverence, even if she was a bit like the nation’s nan.

Many people find it hard to overlook the fact that the global significance and power of the British monarchy stems from the enslavement and exploitation of people of color. As the world remembers the most iconic moments from the reign of Queen Elizabeth II, it’s important to give equal attention to the human cost that made it possible. <i>Royal Empires of Dirt—</i> a show about how British monarchs got rich at the expense of everyone else.

[HOW THE ROYAL FAMILY PROFITED FROM SLAVERY] If you look past the corgis, the coins, and the ceramic commemorative tat, you'll find that the royal family is a bona fide financial empire. Working out its exact value isn’t easy because, like any half-decent financial empire, it goes to great lengths to obscure it. <i>Three cheers for the King.

Hip hip—</i> Hooray! <i>—Hip hip! </i> —Hooray!

In early 2021, an investigation found that the Queen successfully lobbied parliament to keep her private wealth hidden from the public. But last year, Forbes estimated that the headline value of the royal family’s holdings was worth more than $28 billion. That includes Buckingham Palace, the Crown Jewels, huge areas of land across the UK, and some prime London real estate.

The late Queen and Prince Charles did pay some voluntarily, but the British monarch is exempt from paying most taxes, including inheritance tax. That means Charles inherits her $737 million private estate without paying the 40% tax rate that the rest of us commoners do. <i>Fire!

</i> The Crown of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland come to The Prince Charles Philip Arthur George. I am deeply aware of this great inheritance and the duties and heavy responsibilities which have now passed to me. Now that Charles is King, 1 billion pounds’ worth of property that belonged to him outright will also now pass to Prince William.

It’s fair to say that the Windsors will not be weighing up whether to heat or eat this winter. But where did these riches come from in the first place? <i>For it is the Empire, </i> <i>which includes one-quarter of all the land</i> <i>and of all the peoples of the world,</i> <i>that gives to Britain its position as a first-class power.

</i> From the 16th century onwards, the British monarchy was central to the establishment, expansion, and maintenance of the British Empire, the largest the world has ever seen. One of the ways they amassed wealth and power was through the transatlantic slave trade, of which the royals were largely in favor. The 1562 journey of John Hawkins, the first English person known to have included enslaved Africans in his cargo, was approved by Queen Elizabeth I herself.

After Britain invaded Jamaica in 1655, the Royal African Company was set up by Royal Charter under King Charles II. Its purpose was to control the West African slave trade and protect the British monopoly against the Dutch. The RAC went on to transport more enslaved Africans to the Americas than any other single institution ever, lining the pockets of the Stuart monarchs.

Many of those trafficked were branded with the initials DY, as in the Duke of York, who led the company and later became King James II. Britain’s shameful history of slavery is inextricable from the royals who were so eager to profit from it, and that barbaric legacy extends today. Historic royal residences like Kensington Palace and Hampton Court Palace that date back to the 17th century were, to some extent, funded by slavery.

So while it’s hard to tell just how much of the Windsors’ wealth derives from slavery today, it quite literally helped to build the roofs over their heads. And these days, it’s the British taxpayers who are footing the maintenance bill. In 2014, they paid $7.

6 million to refurbish a 20-room apartment for Will and Kate in Kensington Palace. During Queen Victoria's reign, the Slavery Compensation Act meant a 20 million pound payout, 17 billion pounds in today’s money, was paid out to slave owners, not the people who had been enslaved or the countries they were taken from. It represented, at the time, 40% of the Treasury’s annual spending budget.

The sum was so large that it took British taxpayers 182 years to pay off. In recent years, more and more former colonies are saying they want out of the Commonwealth and an apology. And while they’re at it, their rightful share of those billions, maybe even trillions.

It’s complex to calculate, but some estimated figures for reparations suggest that the UK owes a staggering amount of money— around $10 trillion to the Caribbean and to Africa each and $44. 6 trillion to India. It's enough to make you sweat.

Unless, of course, you’re Prince Andrew. <i>Ahead of the couple touching down here,</i> <i>there have been protests which have cast a distinct shadow</i> <i>over this visit. </i> Earlier this year, Will and Kate were embarrassed on their tour of the Caribbean, not just because of Will’s bad dancing.

Before their arrival in Jamaica, over 100 public figures signed an open letter calling on the royal family and the British government to offer an apology and pay reparations. Prince William did express profound sorrow for the appalling atrocities of slavery, but that’s not actually an apology or a payout. Prince William, I hope you feel ashamed in some sense.

They represent a certain kind of history that is unpleasant for our people. So you can see why so many people around the world view the Queen’s death as an opportunity to right historic wrongs. What remains to be seen is whether the new King will be open to reparations.

But it’s unlikely they’ll come at a cost to him and his family. After all, they don’t call it “The Firm” for nothing.