It's been revealed that the Royal Family cost taxpayers £102.4million last year. A new report shows that spending on the royals rose by £15million to top £100million for the first time ever, which is a rise of 17 per cent.
The Mirror reports the multi-million-pound renovation of Buckingham Palace helped the bill for the nation skyrocket, at a time when the cost-of-living is at a record high. Royal finances expert Norman Baker said: “It’s not right.”
Spending on the palace project rose to £63.9million, up £14.4million on the previous year, as work intensified to prepare for the Platinum Jubilee. The Sovereign Grant Report states that last year, as in-person royal visits resumed following the coronavirus pandemic, travel costs rose from £1.3m to £4.5m.
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The Queen was at another of her official residences yesterday as First Minister Nicola Sturgeon was received at Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh. Royal finances expert Norman Baker added: “The Government should have a complete rethink of how taxpayers’ money is allocated to the Royal Family.
“We have no say in how the royals choose to use private jets or helicopters, which are all paid for out of the public purse, and while ordinary people are struggling it isn’t right.” The 10-year Buckingham Palace renovation project appears to be on target to cost £369million.
Delivering the Sovereign Grant Report, Keeper of the Privy Purse, Sir Michael Stevens, said: “There was a significant increase in work against a hard deadline to enable Buckingham Palace to be at the centre of the Platinum Jubilee celebrations. We were pleased to deliver against our plans.
“The year was not without operational and financial challenges. Covid meant we had another year in which access to the Royal Palaces was restricted for The Royal Collection Trust, which again affected our ability to help self-finance our work on behalf of the nation.”
Costs incurred by senior royals continued to increase as their subjects tightened their belts. Prince William and Kate’s ill-fated Caribbean visit cost £226,000 in flights and accommodation.
Despite campaigning on environmental issues, Prince Charles still flies between his royal residences at an average cost of £15,000 a time. The Queen’s royal train cost £100,000 for just three outings last year, but is now powered by “hydro treated vegetable oil”, royal sources revealed.
As a non-working royal, like Harry and his wife Megan, Prince Andrew no longer qualifies for public funding and gets nothing from the Sovereign Grant. He is now thought to be exclusively funded privately by the Queen.
Caribbean tour
Prince William and Kate’s controversial visit to Belize, Jamaica and the Bahamas cost around £226,000. The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge were criticised during the tour in March, slammed for it being a “throwback to Britain’s colonial past”.
The royal couple travelled in an open top Land Rover driven by a Jamaican soldier during a military parade, with some people suggesting it “looked like a scene from The Crown”. In an unprecedented statement, William said after the Caribbean visit: “Tours are an opportunity to reflect. You learn so much.
“This tour has brought into even sharper focus questions about the past and the future. In Belize, Jamaica and the Bahamas, that future is for the people to decide upon.”
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