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The King’s two Bentleys will be converted to run on biofuel over the next year as part of a wider sustainability drive.
In the longer term, the plan is to move to an official fleet of electric cars.
The Royal Household’s annual accounts, published on Wednesday, revealed a series of new, more environmentally friendly measures.
Taxpayer funding for the monarchy’s running costs was set at £86.3 million in 2023-24, the same as the previous year.
This funding, which covers official visits and residences, is known as the “sovereign grant”.
Charles has campaigned on climate issues for decades, but the latest accounts – for the first full financial year of the king’s reign – indicate he is determined to do things differently.
Windsor Castle will be fitted with solar panels for the first time while Buckingham Palace’s gas lanterns are being repurposed with specially designed electrical equipment to improve their energy efficiency while retaining their historic appearance and lustre.
Sir Michael Stevens, Keeper of the Privy Purse, said the environmental initiatives were “driven by a determination to place sustainability at the heart of our operations and inspired by Her Majesty’s leadership in this area”.
Charles had previously said people thought he was “completely crazy” when he began speaking out on environmental issues in the 1970s.
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The annual accounts were delayed by a month due to the general election.
They revealed that the royal household would receive two new helicopters in the coming year, to replace the existing 15-year-old ones.
The report said the helicopters were “a key element” in enabling the King and the Royal Family to carry out their missions, allowing them to access remote areas of the UK.
Efforts have also been made to increase the use of sustainable aviation fuel for Royal flights where possible.
Overall, the report said there was a 3% decrease in natural gas and heating emissions across the royal estates, although total greenhouse gas emissions increased slightly compared to the previous year.
This is largely due to increased emissions from business travel compared to 2022-23, when royal travel was curtailed by events related to the change of reign.
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A 10-year, £369 million project to repair Buckingham Palace is underway.
A separate report by the National Audit Office (NAO) on Tuesday concluded that the renovation work had been well managed overall, but warned that structural damage and the discovery of asbestos, which led to cost increases, “could have been foreseen”.
He said 82% of operational improvements were now complete.
The work completed included installing new boilers, a switchboard and emergency generators, relocating water tanks and removing dangerous electrical cables, according to the NAO.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s former home, Frogmore Cottage, remains empty more than a year after they officially vacated the property.
At the royal finances briefing, palace officials revealed there were no new tenants at the Grade II Crown Estate property at Windsor Home Park.
“Circumstances that are changing rapidly”
The period covered by the accounts – from 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024 – covers the festive moments at the coronation and coronation of the King and Queen.
But they also mark a more difficult time for the family, following the cancer diagnoses of the King and Princess of Wales earlier this year.
Sir Michael acknowledged this, saying that some of the events he referred to might “already seem like ancient history, given all the royal news that has happened since then”.
“Early in 2024, the sad news came that Her Majesty The King and Princess of Wales would be temporarily stepping back from public duties, to prioritise their treatment and recovery from cancer.
“This has inevitably had an impact on the number and nature of engagements that had been scheduled – although I can say how encouraging it is to see the King back performing so many public duties and, more recently, the Princess fit enough to take part in the King’s Birthday Parade and the Wimbledon men’s final.”
In total, there were more than 2,300 official engagements by members of the Royal Family in the UK and abroad, compared with more than 2,700 last year.
Charles attended 464 official engagements despite his cancer diagnosis.
The state visit to Kenya, which cost him £167,000, was his most expensive.
“Behind the scenes, the work of the Royal Household continued apace throughout the latter part of the financial year, with Her Majesty continuing to fully exercise her State functions, Her Majesty taking on a greater share of public engagements and their support teams adapting quickly to changing circumstances,” Sir Michael added.
