Growing calls are being made for King Charles to pay inheritance tax on his late mother's estate, after new research revealed that he inherited assets that boosted his wealth to almost

£2 billion. According to The Guardian newspaper, Charles's private wealth is estimated to now total £1.815 billion, including jewels, art, property, and investments he inherited tax-free from the late Queen.

While he is exempt from income tax and capital gains tax, Charles has chosen to pay some tax voluntarily. Tax campaigners expressed their shock that the King was exempt from inheritance tax on his riches and suggested that the special arrangement for the monarch should come to an end.

Under the convention that was confirmed during negotiations over royal finances with the John Major government in 1993, sovereigns are exempt from inheritance tax when they pass their estates on to each other. This means that King Charles did not have to pay any inheritance tax on the wealth he inherited from his mother, Queen Elizabeth II.

Robert Palmer, the executive director of Tax Justice UK, stated that it was "staggering" to imagine that the King would pay no inheritance tax on the wealth he inherited from his mother, Queen Elizabeth. Palmer cited a poll from last year, which found that 63% of the public believed that King Charles should have paid inheritance tax on this wealth.

Buckingham Palace declined to comment on Charles's private finances, stating that The Guardian's figures were "a highly creative mix of speculation, assumption, and inaccuracy." The Palace declined to offer alternative figures and has a policy of not commenting on the personal finances of the Royal Family, arguing that they should remain private, as they do for any other individual.

The King was the sole beneficiary of the Queen's wealth, including her private estate, the Duchy of Lancaster, which is worth more than £650 million. She also amassed tens of millions of pounds in her own cash and assets, including art and racehorses.

Although most palaces, castles, and other royal residences are owned by the sovereign in right of the crown and do not belong to Charles personally, he did inherit Balmoral and Sandringham from his mother. The Guardian's team of experts valued Balmoral and Sandringham at £80 million and £250 million, respectively.

The newspaper identified almost 400 works of art as being owned privately by the family, including art by Monet, Salvador Dali, Marc Chagall, and LS Lowry, and stated that the 60 "most significant" were valued at £24 million. It warned that it had faced difficulties in establishing which assets were owned privately, as opposed to those held for the benefit of the nation, and said Buckingham Palace had refused its requests for information.

The Royal Family's wealth has previously been estimated at around £24 billion, including property such as Buckingham Palace, which only belongs to the monarch in an official capacity. The Guardian's research provides a clearer picture of the personal wealth of King Charles, who will likely face increasing calls to pay inheritance tax on his mother's estate. Photo by Presidencia de la República Mexicana, Wikimedia commons.