ANTI-ROYALTY activists in Edinburgh greeted Charles Windsor outside Holyroodhouse Palace for the Ceremony of the Keys to say, “Not My King.”

Protesters with the campaign group Republic waved signs reading: “Down with the crown” and “Citizen, not subject” as members of the royal family arrived for the ceremony that kicks off the Royal Week in the city.

It came as the latest annual figures from the Crown Estate revealed that the family’s earnings remained at a record high of £1.1 billion in 2024-25 for a second year in a row.

The earnings have contributed to £5bn to the Treasury over the past decade.

But according to research by Republic, the family cost the country more than £500 million in 2024 alone, exceeding the official Sovereign Grant.

The bill includes costs to local councils, security for two dozen homes, routine use of helicopters and private or RAF jets, unpaid taxes and lost opportunity costs.

Republic have called for short-term funding reforms to pave the way for a longer term abolition, including scrapping the grant and limiting Mr Windsor to two homes.

It said in a statement: “The half a billion-pound cost...  is the result of royal corruption and secrecy, a family that believes it can spend public money with impunity.

“This new report shows unequivocal proof that the Duchies are state property, not private estates. The royals are dishonest in claiming otherwise.

“The Duchies have been Crown property for hundreds of years, the parliamentary and historic record makes it clear they are not private estates.

“Republic is demanding the royal budget be slashed to below £10m, that only Charles receive any public funding, that he is given a salary pegged to that of the prime minister and that MPs hold an inquiry into this appalling waste of money.”