What’s behind King Charles’s bumper pay rise? Greed, lies and a ton of public money | Graham Smith

The crown estate no more belongs to the monarch than No 10 does to Rishi Sunak. So why such a huge handout?

There have been growing calls for an end to royal secrecy in recent months, with historians, campaigners and journalists demanding greater access to the official records of the UK's head of state. That secrecy has been compared unfavourably to MI5, with the royals having an absolute exemptionfrom the Freedom of Information Act while squirrelling away thousands of official records in their archives in Windsor.

There is a reason why the monarchy is more secretive than our security services: it has plenty to hide. It is not unreasonable to conclude that the institution is corrupt, if corruption is the abuse of public office for personal gain. Whether it's using tens of millions of pounds each year to cover costs such as travel or palatial homes, or lobbying the government in pursuit of their private interests or political agendas, the royals exploit their status and position week in, week out.

Graham Smith is CEO of Republic and the author of Abolish the Monarchy: Why We Should and How We Will