The Royal Foundation received a one-off £8.7 million payment from its U.S. affiliate in 2025, accounting for about 44% of the charity's £19.6 million income and driving a jump from £12.2 million the previous year. The accounts show charitable spending of £16.5 million, staff costs of £6.4 million and year-end funds of £10.6 million. While commentators compared the move to Harry and Meghan’s U.S. efforts, differences in reporting periods, currencies and operating models limit direct comparisons.
Royal Foundation Took £8.7M From U.S. Affiliate In 2025 — What The Figures Actually Mean
Image Credit: Euan Cherry / Shutterstock.
Newly filed accounts show that Prince William and Kate Middleton's Royal Foundation received a one-off payment of £8.7 million from its U.S. affiliate, American Friends of the Royal Foundation, in 2025. That sum represented roughly 44% of the charity's reported £19.6 million total income for the year — a sharp rise from the approximately £2.57 million the U.S. arm contributed in 2024.
American Friends was established in 2011 as a separately governed U.S. nonprofit able to accept tax-deductible donations. While its aims align with the Royal Foundation, past Royal Foundation accounts stress that the British charity does not control the American entity. The jump in U.S. support helped total Royal Foundation income increase from £12.2 million in 2024 to £19.6 million in 2025.
The latest accounts show the foundation spent £16.5 million on charitable activities during the year and held £10.6 million across its funds at the end of December. Staff costs rose to £6.4 million as headcount grew from 67 to 80 employees.
What 'charitable expenditure' covers
Charitable expenditure in these accounts includes more than grants to outside bodies: it also covers the design and delivery of the foundation's own programmes, commissioned research, public-awareness work and coordination with partner organisations.
Priority Programmes
Homewards — Launched by William in 2023, Homewards is a five-year programme that operates in six UK locations. It brings together councils, housing providers, charities and businesses to develop locally tailored plans intended to prevent homelessness.
Royal Foundation Centre for Early Childhood — Kate's initiative focuses on how pregnancy and the first five years of life influence health, relationships and emotional development across the life course.
United for Wildlife — This programme works with banks, transport firms, governments and law-enforcement agencies to disrupt wildlife-trafficking networks.
Comparisons With Harry and Meghan
Royal columnist Richard Eden used the new numbers to argue that William and Kate had, in effect, moved into U.S. philanthropic territory that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle had hoped to serve after stepping back from frontline royal duties.
"William and Kate have quietly parked their tanks on the American philanthropic territory associated with Harry and Meghan," Eden wrote.
Context is important. William and Harry originally founded a joint Royal Foundation before the couples separated their charitable operations in 2019. Harry and Meghan later established Archewell, a California-based organization. Archewell's latest publicly available U.S. tax filing (calendar year 2024) reports roughly $2.59 million in revenue (about $2.14 million in contributions and $449,768 in investment income), $5.11 million in expenses, and approximately $8.26 million in net assets at year-end. Its reported revenue fell from about $5.73 million in 2023, though a one-year decline can reflect planned use of prior reserves.
Direct comparisons are complicated by differing reporting periods, currencies and operating models: the Royal Foundation's accounts cover 2025 and use British pounds, while Archewell's filing covers the U.S. calendar year 2024 and uses dollars. The Royal Foundation runs several large initiatives in-house; Archewell has tended to support external grants, partnerships and campaigns.
Earthshot Prize
Eden also pointed to the Earthshot Prize, an environmental initiative associated with William. Earthshot reported £23.5 million in total income for the financial year ending 31 March 2024, including £21.4 million in underlying donation income. The prize became an independent charity in 2022 and now publishes separate accounts. Each year it awards £1 million to five winners and offers finalists connections to investors, businesses and technical support to help scale their projects.
Bottom line: The £8.7 million U.S. payment is notable and helped drive a strong year for the Royal Foundation, but differences in governance, timing, accounting and operating approach mean headline comparisons with Archewell — and claims of 'encroachment' — should be treated with caution.
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