Prince Charles' private estate is worth more than £1bn, accounts show

It comes as royal accounts reveal Duke and Duchess of Sussex renovated Windsor home with £2.4m of taxpayers' money

The assets of the Prince of Wales‘ private estate are worth more than £1bn, annual accounts have shown.

The Duchy of Cornwall‘s assets, a portfolio of land, property and investments which provide an income for Prince Charles, have risen £33m to £1,099,748,000 in 2018-2019.

The heir to the throne’s annual income from the duchy is £21.6m, down just over £100,000 on the previous financial year.

Although the income generated by Prince Charles fell slightly, the Duchy still expects to achieve its target of 2.6 per cent annualised growth over the five-year period to March 2020.

It comes as royal accounts revealed the Duke and Duchess of Sussex renovated their Windsor home with £2.4m of taxpayers’ money.

Major renovations were undertaken on the Grade II listed Frogmore Cottage before Prince Harry and Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, moved in shortly before the birth of their son, Archie.

In the last financial year, the royal family cost UK taxpayers £67m, nearly £20m more than the previous year, according to accounts for the Sovereign Grant.

The majority of the increase was from maintaining royal palaces across the country and updating services at Buckingham Palace.

Prince Charles’ estate extends across 23 counties in England and Wales, and includes 52,760 hectares of land and 2,360 hectares of woodland. Properties owned by the estate include the Oval cricket ground in south London.

In keeping with the Prince of Wales’ long-term interest in sustainability, it has opened its first hydro-electric generator on Dartmoor, and a number of new heat pumps in houses and workshops.

The accounts reported an 87 per cent reduction in emissions from buildings used by the estate, but there has only been an 18 per cent reduction in travel-related emissions.

Additional reporting by Press Association