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The Queen will have to pay mansion tax on her palaces if Labour wins next year’s General Election, Ed Balls vowed today.

All homes valued over £2million will warrant the levy – and the royals will not be exempt, the Shadow Chancellor said.

The only exceptions will be for historic properties that are open to the public for at least 28 days a year – meaning Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle will not be taxed.

But the royal family would still face a hefty bill for Balmoral, Sandringham and other private residences.

William and Kate’s new Anmer Hall home in Norfolk would also be hit.

The annual charge would be calculated as a percentage of a property’s value, with council tax-style bands so that someone in a £10million mansion will pay more than the owner of a £2.1million home.

Mr Balls said: “The royal family pays tax like everyone else, and rightly so. There aren’t different rules for anybody – it’s the nature of our society.”

(Image: Chris Bacon/PA Wire)

A Labour source played down the impact on the royals, pointing out that the Queen already pays council tax.

But the mansion tax will run into thousands of pounds and will dwarf the annual bills sent out by local councils.

Party donor Lord Noon, who has given Labour almost £1million, attacked the mansion tax plan as a “hopeless and desperate” idea that belonged in the 1970s.

Lord Levy, who was Tony Blair’s chief fundraiser, said it was “totally inappropriate” and called for Labour to be more business-friendly.

Two polls have shown the Tories pulling ahead of Labour after the party conference last week, where leader Ed Miliband prompted ridicule by forgetting a section of his speech on the deficit.

But today Mr Balls insisted he gave the Labour leader’s speech “10 out of 10”.