Baker argues that the British royal family went from bankrupt in 1760 to worth billions almost entirely by extracting money from the public purse, tax exemptions, and “dodgy” offshore and influence-peddling deals, with Charles alone worth at least £1.8 billion (Baker estimates north of £2 billion). He claims Prince Andrew passed highly sensitive British government financial information to Jeffrey Epstein during the 2008 banking collapse, which Baker says is “treason,” a charge easier to prove than the misconduct-in-public-office offense Andrew was actually arrested for. He calls the explosion in the sovereign grant from £7.9 million in 2011 to £132.1 million this year “obscene,” brands the Duchies of Cornwall and Lancaster “royal slush funds,” and says that while he philosophically favors a republic, he could live with a radically slimmed-down Scandinavian-style monarchy.
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The Epstein “treason” allegation: Baker says emails surfaced in the US alleging Andrew passed sensitive British financial intelligence to Epstein during the 2008 crisis, who then relayed it to his American banking contacts; Baker insists passing damaging information to a foreign party is “treason,” an offense that was punishable by execution until Labour abolished the death penalty in 1998.
Andrew’s unexplained wealth and the Kazakh deal: Officially Andrew has only a ~£20,000 naval pension plus the ~£250,000 a year he once got via the Duchy of Lancaster, yet he owned a ~£15 million Swiss chalet and reportedly paid Virginia Giuffre around £12 million. Baker cites a £3 million commission (1% of a contract) Andrew stood to earn from a Kazakh deal for sending “a couple of emails,” which collapsed only after authorities shot striking workers.
The Duchies as “royal slush funds”: Baker argues the Duchies of Cornwall and Lancaster are public bodies wrongly treated as private estates, paying William and Charles roughly £25 million each per year, about 100 times the prime minister’s salary “for doing nothing.” They pay no corporation tax or capital gains tax, and Duchy holdings include the Oval cricket ground and large parts of London, not just Cornwall.
Secrecy and the FOI exemption: Baker says the monarchy is the only public body to be moved out of Freedom of Information scope, a change Charles secured after the Guardian won release of his political “spider letters” lobbying ministers on fox hunting, homeopathy and defense spending. He notes the Met Police refused his request for records that could confirm or refute Andrew’s Pizza Express Woking alibi.
Cost, declining support, and the case for reform: The UK monarchy costs about £500 million a year versus under £50 million for the Dutch and under £10 million for the Danish, while Charles inherited roughly £500 million in jewelry, a £100 million stamp collection and racehorses with no inheritance tax. Baker warns public support has fallen from 83% in the 1980s to about 50% and that “the tree that doesn’t bend will break.”
