Windsor Castle has announced its decision to charge locals despite King Charles's personal wealth soaring by £10million.
The castle has offered free admission to locals since 1825, but it will charge them half the price of a regular ticket from June 1.
This comes as King Charles's personal wealth has soared by £10million to £610million.
Calculations by the Sunday Times Rich List suggest the monarch has benefited from a boost to the net worth of his properties.
King Charles's personal wealth has soared by £10million
Getty
The King inherited the late Queen's private estates Sandringham in Norfolk and Balmoral in Aberdeenshire, which are said to account for much of his financial fortune.
The monarch also owns Windsor Castle and carried out an engagement in the royal residence as recently as last week.
People living in Windsor have criticised the castle's decision to end its 200-year tradition of letting local residents enter for free.
They criticised the move as “wrong and misjudged” and said they “deserve something back for welcoming so many tourists into their town”.
The Royal Collection Trust (RCT), which runs the castle, said the pricing was “in line with other businesses in the borough”.
Windsor locals are outraged about being charged to enter Windsor Castle
PA
Built in 1070, Windsor is the world’s oldest inhabited castle.
Visitors were first allowed in 1825, and a free ticketing system was introduced by Queen Victoria in 1837.
Free entry was permitted for all visitors until 1992 when the Windsor Castle fire destroyed 115 rooms.
Afterwards, visitors were charged an entrance fee to help with the castle's restoration.
King Charles is now worth £610million
ReutersHowever, local residents were still allowed free entrance if they held a resident's advantage card.
The RCT, which controls all royal residences, now plans to charge local residents £16.50 to enter the castle.
Julian Tisi, Windsor’s Lib-Dem parliamentary candidate, criticised the new decision, saying: “Most Windsorians are proud to have the castle on our front doorstep and love the royal connection and it has always been the expectation that entrance to go in has been free.”
Residents said that free entrance was a concession for the negative impacts of tourism.
Paul Oatway, 60, a former Grenadier Guards sergeant, said: “For them to tell me I now have to pay to go in is an absolute disgrace. Especially in summer the town is packed full of coaches and cars rammed with tourists and the roads are shut twice a day for the changing of the guard but we put up with all that.
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Reuters“We can’t park our cars and the prices in all the cafes and restaurants are sky high for the tourists but it has always been a thank you from the royals to visit and not pay for entry.”
An RCT spokesman told The Telegraph: “We regularly review our pricing against other organisations in the sector and based on this, updated our current advantage card offer to be in line with other businesses in the borough.
“We are continuing to explore ways to make the castle as accessible as possible to visitors from the local area, with current initiatives including free visits for community organisations working with under-represented groups, and a travel subsidy and access scheme for schools working with children from economically disadvantaged backgrounds.
“Income generated from admissions to the castle contributes directly to the Royal Collection Trust, a registered charity. The aims of the trust are the care and conservation of the Royal Collection, and the promotion of access and enjoyment through exhibitions, publications, loans and educational programmes.”
