Queen Elizabeth and her son and heir Prince Charles were caught up in a financial firestorm when their names appeared in the recently leaked Paradise Papers.
The Duchy of Lancaster — a private estate initially established for John of Gaunt, the younger son of King Edward III — has been handed down from monarch to monarch since 1399. Funds from the duchy pour into the Crown's Privy Purse — or private income.
The Washington Post reported $12 million of the queen's private money from this duchy was invested offshore, in Bermuda and the Cayman Islands.
According to the BBC, some of that money also went to, "the company behind BrightHouse, a chain accused of irresponsible lending, and Threshers, which went bust owing £17.5m in UK tax."
Prince Charles of Wales also came under fire, as a result of the news.
The 680-year-old Duchy of Cornwall is inherited by the eldest son of the reigning monarch. Back in 2007, the duchy bought $113,500 of shares in Sustainable Forestry Management Ltd. The Bermuda-based company stood to benefit from a change in climate change policy.
The BBC reported Prince Charles advocated for the change "... and his estate, the Duchy of Cornwall, tripled its investment in Sustainable Forestry in the space of a year."
Spokespeople from both duchies denied wrongdoing and pointed to the fact both royals voluntarily pay taxes on their incomes.
But the revelations still stirred controversy. Labour party leader Jeremy Corbyn told the Telegraph, "Anyone that is putting money into tax havens in order to avoid taxation in Britain, and obviously investigations have to take place, should do two things — not just apologize for it but also recognize what it does to our society."