HISTORIC ROYAL PALACES

Charity overview
Activities - how the charity spends its money
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
Income and expenditure
Data for financial year ending 31 March 2024
Total income:
£134,386,000
Donations and legacies | £2.68m | |
Charitable activities | £93.53m | |
Other trading activities | £33.28m | |
Investments | £4.90m | |
Other | £0 |
Total expenditure:
£90,891,000
Raising funds | £17.31m | |
Charitable activities | £73.59m | |
Other | £0 |
£148,000 investments gains (losses)
Total income includes £203,566 from 3 government grant(s)
Charitable expenditure
Charitable expenditure with investment gains
Charitable expenditure
Some charities generate all, or a substantial part, of their income from investments which may have been donated to the charity as endowment or set aside by the charity from its own resources in the past. Such investments usually take the form of stocks and shares but may include other assets, such as property, that are capable of generating income and/or capital growth.
In managing their spending and investments charities need to strike a balance between the needs of future and current beneficiaries. They also need to take account of spending commitments that may stretch over a number of future years. To do this, charities will normally adopt an investment strategy designed to generate both income and capital growth. To maximise returns trustees may commit to investment strategies for several years.
Investments can experience large swings in value so trustees may, in a particular year, decide to realise and spend part of their charity’s capital or to invest part of its income.
By clicking the investment gains checkbox the charitable spending bar is adjusted to take account of capital growth as well as income. This shows the balance the charity is striking, between spending on current beneficiaries and retaining resources for future beneficiaries.
Raising funds and other expenditure | £17.31m | |
Charitable expenditure | £73.59m | |
Retained for future use | £43.50m |
Raising funds and other expenditure | £17.31m | |
Charitable expenditure | £73.59m | |
Retained for future use | £43.64m |
People

833 Employee(s)
9 Trustee(s)
639 Volunteer(s)
Employees with total benefits over £60,000
Number of employees | |
---|---|
£60k to £70k | 23 |
£70k to £80k | 15 |
£80k to £90k | 15 |
£110k to £120k | 1 |
£120k to £130k | 3 |
£130k to £140k | 4 |
£150k to £200k | 1 |
Fundraising
Trading
Trustee payments
What, who, how, where
- Education/training
- Arts/culture/heritage/science
- Environment/conservation/heritage
- The General Public/mankind
- Provides Buildings/facilities/open Space
- Provides Services
- Sponsors Or Undertakes Research
- City Of London
- City Of Westminster
- Kensington And Chelsea
- Kingston Upon Thames
- Richmond Upon Thames
- Surrey
- Tower Hamlets
- Northern Ireland
Governance
- 25 March 1998: Standard registration
No other names
- Bullying and harassment policy and procedures
- Complaints handling
- Complaints policy and procedures
- Conflicting interests
- Engaging external speakers at charity events policy and procedures
- Financial reserves policy and procedures
- Internal charity financial controls policy and procedures
- Internal risk management policy and procedures
- Investing charity funds policy and procedures
- Investment
- Paying staff
- Risk management
- Safeguarding policy and procedures
- Safeguarding vulnerable beneficiaries
- Serious incident reporting policy and procedures
- Social media policy and procedures
- Trustee conflicts of interest policy and procedures
- Trustee expenses policy and procedures
- Volunteer management
Trustees
Trustees are the people responsible for controlling the work, management and administration of the charity on behalf of its beneficiaries. Generally trustees are treasurer, chair, board member etc. The trustees are responsible for keeping this list up to date and can do this by updating their details as they happen through the online service
9 Trustee(s)
Name | Role | Date of appointment | Other trusteeships | Reporting status of other trusteeships | ||||
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Sir Nicholas Coleridge | Chair | 01 November 2023 |
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James Chalmers | Trustee | 01 January 2025 |
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Jonathan Bewes | Trustee | 01 October 2024 |
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General Sir Gordon Messenger | Trustee | 01 August 2022 |
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Lisa Jane Burger | Trustee | 01 April 2022 |
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Camilla Finlay | Trustee | 07 June 2021 |
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Dr Joanna Louise Twist | Trustee | 01 November 2019 |
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Sarah Jane Jenkins | Trustee | 02 September 2019 |
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TIMOTHY AIDAN JOHN KNOX | Trustee | 05 March 2018 |
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Financial history
Financial period end date
Income / Expenditure | 31/03/2020 | 31/03/2021 | 31/03/2022 | 31/03/2023 | 31/03/2024 | ||
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Total gross income | £101.81m | £32.69m | £54.44m | £102.48m | £134.39m | |
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Total expenditure | £101.59m | £53.90m | £61.30m | £82.13m | £90.89m | |
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Income from government contracts | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | |
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Income from government grants | £201.00k | £18.04m | £8.80m | £146.63k | £203.57k | |
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Income - Donations and legacies | £3.32m | £21.07m | £11.39m | £3.37m | £2.68m | |
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Income - Other trading activities | £25.92m | £4.28m | £14.61m | £27.75m | £33.28m | |
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Income - Charitable activities | £71.84m | £7.01m | £28.22m | £70.09m | £93.53m | |
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Income - Endowments | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 | |
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Income - Investment | £728.90k | £330.49k | £223.97k | £1.28m | £4.90m | |
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Income - Other | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 | |
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Income - Legacies | £0 | £22.00k | £0 | £0 | £95.00k | |
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Expenditure - Charitable activities | £84.45m | £46.43m | £52.83m | £68.24m | £73.59m | |
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Expenditure - Raising funds | £16.96m | £7.46m | £8.45m | £13.89m | £17.31m | |
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Expenditure - Governance | £520.01k | £365.00k | £278.05k | £389.10k | £470.00k | |
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Expenditure - Grants institution | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 | |
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Expenditure - Investment management | £29.07k | £51.23k | £23.40k | £8.12k | £5.00k | |
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Expenditure - Other | £181.00k | £12.00k | £18.00k | £0 | £0 |
Assets and liabilities
Definitions for assets and liabilities
These are assets, other than investments, which are held for more than 12 months and used to run and administer the charity such as buildings, offices, exhibits and fixtures and fittings.
Long term InvestmentsInvestments are assets held by the charity with the sole aim of generating income which will be used for their charitable purposes such as deposit accounts, shares, rental property and unit trusts.
Investment assets are re-valued every year and included in the balance sheet at their current market value.
Long term investments are held for more than 12 months.
These are assets held generally for less than 12 months such as cash and bank balances, debtors, investments to be sold within the coming year and trading stock.
Defined benefit pension scheme asset or liabilityThis is a surplus or deficit in any defined benefit pension scheme operated and represents a potential long-term asset or liability.
Total liabilitiesThese are all the amounts owed by the charity at the balance sheet date to third parties such as bills due but not yet paid, bank overdrafts and loans and mortgages.
Asset / Liability | 31/03/2020 | 31/03/2021 | 31/03/2022 | 31/03/2023 | 31/03/2024 | ||
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Own use assets | £32.88m | £33.55m | £33.35m | £34.96m | £36.62m | |
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Long-term investments | £13.62m | £8.43m | £4.80m | £3.14m | £2.30m | |
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Other assets | £35.44m | £48.99m | £53.71m | £81.95m | £126.14m | |
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Defined benefit pension scheme asset or liability | -£686.19k | -£829.19k | £9.44m | £7.28m | £6.56m | |
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Total liabilities | £20.42m | £49.28m | £57.17m | £65.46m | £67.18m |
Accounts and annual returns
Title | Reporting year | Date received | Received | Download |
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Annual return | 31 March 2024 | 31 January 2025 | On Time | |
Accounts and TAR | 31 March 2024 | 31 January 2025 | On Time | Download Open in new window |
Annual return | 31 March 2023 | 30 January 2024 | On Time | |
Accounts and TAR | 31 March 2023 | 30 January 2024 | On Time | Download Open in new window |
Annual return | 31 March 2022 | 23 January 2023 | On Time | |
Accounts and TAR | 31 March 2022 | 23 January 2023 | On Time | Download Open in new window |
Annual return | 31 March 2021 | 31 January 2022 | On Time | |
Accounts and TAR | 31 March 2021 | 31 January 2022 | On Time | Download Open in new window |
Annual return | 31 March 2020 | 25 January 2021 | On Time | |
Accounts and TAR | 31 March 2020 | 25 January 2021 | On Time | Download Open in new window |
Governing document
It is not the full text of the charity's governing document.
ROYAL CHARTER SEALED ON 6/3/98, AS AMENDED BY ORDER IN COUNCIL DATED 10/10/06, 13/10/10 AND 11/2/14 as amended by an Order in Council on 10 Jun 2015
Charitable objects
FOR THE BENEFIT OF THE NATION: (A) TO MANAGE, CONSERVE, RENOVATE, REPAIR, MAINTAIN AND IMPROVE THE PALACES ("THE PALACES" BEING THE TOWER OF LONDON; HAMPTON COURT PALACE; THE STATE APARTMENTS AND ORANGERY AT KENSINGTON PALACE; THE BANQUETING HOUSE, WHITEHALL; KEW PALACE WITH QUEEN CHARLOTTE'S COTTAGE; AND OTHER PALACE OR PROPERTY CONSIDERED BY THE TRUSTEES TO BE OF ROYAL ASSOCIATION AND HISTORIC AND/OR ARCHITECTURAL IMPORTANCE AND AGREED BY US AND OUR SECRETARY OF STATE; TOGETHER WITH ANY ASSOCIATED GARDENS, LANDS, BUILDINGS AND CONTENTS OTHER THAN THE COLLECTION OF THE ROYAL ARMOURIES) TO A HIGH STANDARD CONSISTENT WITH THEIR STATUS AS BUILDINGS OF ROYAL ASSOCIATION AND HISTORIC AND/OR ARCHITECTURAL IMPORTANCE; AND (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 PROVIDING PUBLIC ACCESS, BY EXHIBITION, BY EVENTS AND EDUCATION PROGRAMMES, BY THE PREPARATION OF RECORDS, BY RESEARCH AND BY PUBLICATION AND BY SUCH OTHER MEANS AS ARE APPROPRIATE.
Area of benefit
THE UNITED KINGDOM
Contact information
- Address:
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Historic Royal Palaces
Hampton Court Palace
East Molesey
KT8 9AU
- Phone:
- 0333 320 6000
- Email:
- info@hrp.org.uk
- Website:
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