Royal Family doubles cybersecurity spending to £5.6m after Russian hacks

Buckingham Palace has more than doubled its taxpayer-funded cybersecurity spending to £5.6m for 2025-26, up from £2.4m in 2016-17, citing growing threats from Russian hackers targeting the Royal Family. The increased expenditure, noted in this year's Sovereign Grant review, will replace "ageing" computer systems and fund a dedicated Security Operations Centre. This follows a 2023 pro-Russian KillNet hack of royal.uk and a 2024 Russian disinformation campaign spreading false claims about King Charles. The palace has also hired an information security manager and cyber team roles. The review stresses compliance with National Cyber Security Centre standards, though it does not confirm whether any systems were breached or how many need replacing.