Prince William's tax bill revealed as Celebrity Traitors returns to BBC

Prince William’s reported income tax bill of up to £7 million has put a rare financial spotlight on the Duchy of Cornwall, with the figure placing him among the top 0.002% of UK taxpayers. The sum is based on Duchy income and has sharpened questions over what the public can see, and what still remains hidden, in the finances of the modern monarchy.

William inherited the Duchy in September 2022, when King Charles III became monarch after the death of Queen Elizabeth II. The Duchy’s 2025 Integrated Impact Report said it produced a distributable surplus of £22.9 million for the year ending 31 March 2025, marking William’s second full year leading the estate. That level of income now sits alongside a disclosure gap: Kensington Palace has said William pays the “appropriate” level of income tax, but has not published a full breakdown.

That restraint stands in contrast to Charles’s own earlier practice. Before becoming king, Charles published a fuller tax disclosure, including a reported £5.892 million tax bill for 2021/22. The comparison has revived a long-running debate over transparency, public expectation and the degree to which royal wealth should be visible in a constitutional monarchy that relies on public consent as much as private inheritance.

The same front pages that carried the tax story also led with the return of Celebrity Traitors, underlining the BBC’s confidence that the format can still draw a mass audience. The broadcaster confirmed a second series and a 21-strong celebrity line-up, with filming expected at Ardross Castle in Scotland in May and the new series likely to air in October 2026.

The cast includes Bella Ramsey, Maya Jama, Miranda Hart, Ross Kemp, Joe Lycett, James Acaster, Joanne McNally, Rob Beckett, Romesh Ranganathan and Michael Sheen, with Claudia Winkleman back as host. The first celebrity series was a major hit for the BBC, with the finale drawing 11.1 million overnight viewers and peaking at 12 million, before consolidated viewing lifted the audience to around 15 million. Alan Carr won that first series, giving the format a strong platform as the new line-up heads to Scotland.