The events to mark the death of Queen Elizabeth II last year cost the public £161.7m, according to a Treasury estimate.
A 10-day period of national mourning, culminating in the monarch’s funeral, was announced after her death on 8 September last year. About 250,000 people attended the lying in state, while official audience data showed that more than 29 million people in the UK watched the funeral on television.
Critics said the extravagance of the event was inappropriate at a time when many people were struggling with basic needs.
“There is an assumption that these things have to be done on this scale and that’s an assumption that needs to be questioned – particularly in the middle of a cost of living crisis,” said the chief executive of Republic, Graham Smith.
Government ministers have argued that the commemorations needed to reflect the national importance of the event. But Smith said: “When people can’t put food on the table – even though they are in work – they would probably derive more from a hot meal” than from the pageantry surrounding the queen’s funeral.
Events were held across the UK, and the chief secretary to the Treasury, John Glen, laid out the estimated cost of £161.7m in a written statement to parliament.
The biggest spenders were the Home Office, which paid out £73.7m, followed by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, which paid £57.4m, and the Scottish government, with costs of £18.8m. Glen broke down the cost to each department.
Department for Culture, Media and Sport: £57.4m
Department for Transport: £2.6m
Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office: £2.1m
Home Office: £73.7m
Ministry of Defence: £2.9m
Northern Ireland Office: £2.1m
Scottish government: £18.8m
Welsh government: £2.2m
Glen said the costs included only money spent specifically on events, “as opposed to costs that would have been incurred in any case”.
He said the Treasury had paid to meet some those costs – including “fully refunding the Scottish government, Welsh government and Northern Ireland Office for their respective costs, which in turn they were able to repay to partners who also incurred costs”.
Downing Street said the money was used to facilitate the smooth running of the event and ensure mourners from the UK and across the world could visit and take part safely. “Of course, a major international event of this scale, we wanted to ensure that we could enable people to pay their respects,” a No 10 spokesperson said.
Glen added that the events were of “huge national significance”, adding: “During this period, many hundreds of thousands of people came in person to pay their respects, at the lying at rest in Edinburgh, the lying in state in Westminster, as well as in London and Windsor for the state funeral on 19 September.
“Many more people also came out to support His Majesty the king and other members of the royal family as they travelled around the UK during this time.
“The government’s priorities were that these events ran smoothly and with the appropriate level of dignity, while at all times ensuring the safety and security of the public.
According to estimates from the website FactCheck, the most expensive state events in recent decades – adjusted for inflation – were the funerals of Diana, Princess of Wales, and the queen mother, and the wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, which cost between £7m and £8.4m each.
The site said Margaret Thatcher’s funeral cost about £3.8m by today’s prices, while the funeral of Winston Churchill was nearer to £1m.
Speaking at the time, officials said the logistics of the commemorations were equivalent to organising hundreds of state visits all at once. The Foreign Office assigned hundreds of staff to work on the task, and the mixture of security, diplomacy, protocol and logistics was regarded as probably the most extensive piece of short-term planning to face the diplomatic service since Churchill’s funeral.
