HISTORIC ROYAL PALACES

Registered charity 1068852 · accounts filings on the Charity Commission register

a)to manage, conserve, renovate and repair the Palaces (Hampton Court, Tower of London, Kensington Palace, Kew Palace, Banqueting House, Hillsborough Castle) to a high standard consistent with their status; b)to help everyone to learn about the Palaces, the skills required for their conservation and the wider story of how monarchs and people together have shaped society, by all appropriate means

Causes: Education/training · Arts/culture/heritage/science · Environment/conservation/heritage · website · Get email alerts

Financial health, per its FY2025 accounts

The accounts state that the charity achieved a record operating surplus of £45.3m and increased its free reserves to £20.0m, meeting its stated policy target. The trustees confirm the organization is well-placed to continue as a going concern, with forecasts indicating it will remain cash positive throughout the next financial year despite global economic uncertainties.

Automated summary of the FY2025 accounts; the evidenced findings below carry the verbatim passages.

What the accounts disclose

Accounts audited by The Comptroller and Auditor General, National Audit Office. Discloses 5 of 6 completeness components.

Year-over-year changes

• Employees paid over £60,000: 62 (FY2024) → 91 (FY2025).
• Reserves position vs the charity's own policy moved from "above" (FY2024) to "within" (FY2025).

Comparing this charity’s FY2024 and FY2025 accounts as analysed by this site.

UK research funding (UKRI Gateway to Research)

• Staging the Henrician Court —
• Portable Palaces: Royal Tents and Timber Lodgings 1509-1603 —
• Portable remote hyperspectral imaging for in situ examination of wall paintings —
• An investigation of 3D technologies applied to historic textiles for improved understanding, conservation and engagement —
• Extending active life for older people with cognitive impairment through innovation in the visitor economy of the natural environment (ENLIVEN) —
• The Human Remains: A Digital Library of British Mortuary Science and Investigation —
• Transatlantic Perspectives on the Use of Data Science in Museums and Heritage —
• Heritage Science Data Service (HSDS) —
• Unlocking markets for content delivery —
• WRITING A NEW HISTORY OF TREASON —

Property (HM Land Registry)

15 registered titles in England and Wales held by the charity’s company or corporate body (7 freehold). All charity-held property. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright, OGL v3.0.

Trustpilot: Historic Royal Palaces scores 2.5/5 from 27 reviews (source) — reviews usually concern the charity’s shops or services, not its charitable performance.

Structured financials (annual return, FY ending 31/03/2025)

Reported reserves equal ~2.2 months of spending — below the median for charities its size (median 2.7 months; benchmarks).

Per its annual return, largest income source: Charitable activities (68% of income) — components as reported reconcile to the return’s total income; not from the accounts narrative.

Per its annual return, cost of raising funds: 12.5% of total income — above the median for charities its size (2.9%) (benchmarks).

Trustees · trustee networks

• Sir Nicholas Coleridgechair
• Camilla Finlay
• Caroline Hope
• Dame Caroline Michel
• Dan Jones
• General Sir Gordon Messenger
• James Chalmers · trustee of 3 other charities
• John Mothersole
• Jonathan Bewes
• Lisa Jane Burger · trustee of 1 other charity
• TIMOTHY AIDAN JOHN KNOX
• Tom Harris

Trustee list from the Charity Commission register (current, not historical).

Operates in: City Of London · City Of Westminster · Kensington And Chelsea · Kingston Upon Thames · Northern Ireland · Richmond Upon Thames · Surrey · Tower Hamlets

Income and spending

Common questions

Known funders

Grants to this charity found in funders’ own accounts filings.

Government & lottery funding

Grants to this charity published as open data by government and lottery funders (360Giving).

Funders of similar charities

Funders whose accounts show grants to charities similar to this one (and no recorded grant to this charity) — a starting list for fundraisers.

Charities like this

Semantically similar by activities and financial character, from our analysed corpus. Compare with THE HM TOWER OF LONDON CHAPELS ROYAL FOUNDATION.

• THE HM TOWER OF LONDON CHAPELS ROYAL FOUNDATION income £297k
• THE CHORAL FOUNDATION, THE CHAPEL ROYAL, HAMPTON COURT PALACE income £319k
• THE ROYAL COLLECTION TRUST income £85.3m
• THE ROYAL PARKS [LIMITED] income £109.9m
• THE PALACE TRUST income £2.2m
• BLENHEIM PALACE HERITAGE FOUNDATION income £31.0m

Side by side with its peers

Each row is that charity’s latest analysed filing; every value is quote-backed on its own page.