Prince Charles' spending rises to £12 million after Kate and Wills' wedding (just don't ask how much it cost)

 

Prince Charles's spending increased last year after William and Kate’s wedding — and the new roles undertaken by the couple and Prince Harry.

Accounts also showed that the Prince of Wales’s funding from the taxpayer increased by 11 per cent in the last financial year, rising to £2,194,000.

Charles’s total official outgoings rose 5.4 per cent to £12,025,000, paid out of £2.1 million in government grants and the £18,288,000 income from the Duchy of Cornwall, his private estate.

The section of the Duchy accounts which includes the cost of Kate’s dresses for official functions rose by £100,000. Royal aides refused to put a precise cost on how much her clothes cost. The young royals also saw their staff increase from seven to nine.

The annual accounts, which cover the 12 months to April, have hidden within them the cost to Charles of his son’s wedding. Aides said it would be “impolite” to reveal the cost as it was considered a private event.

William Nye, principal private secretary, said: “It’s been another very busy year for the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall.” Charles and Camilla travelled 47,622 miles — 13,335 miles more than last year.

They received £1.3 million from the Government to pay for their travel, which worked out at £27.67 a mile, down from £31.50 last year.

Charles and Camilla wrote fewer letters than last year and cut their costs on official entertaining by £25,000 to £298,000 and by £42,000 on gifts and donations to £86,000.

The accounts show the Duchy’s total income rose by £724,000 to £20.4 million, resulting in a surplus of £8.4 million. Charles voluntarily paid almost £4.5 million in tax — a figure that rises to £5 million once National Insurance and council tax are included.

His 16 core charities raised £131 million, up £8 million and the highest in recent times. Duchy Originals from Waitrose have generated £3.5 million for charity since it took over production of food items in 2010. The wedding in April last year was paid for by Charles, the Queen and the Middleton family, with the Government covering the costs of security and the military.

Despite its status as a “semi-State occasion”, Clarence House said the costs would not be disclosed as Charles’s contribution came from his “non-official expenditure”, which rose £70,000 year on year to £2.6 million.

The total cost of the activities of Charles, Camilla, William, Kate and Harry was £20.2 million, once official expenditure, private spending, taxpayer grants and capital costs were included. This is about £700,000 more than last year.

Charles’s foreign travel included trips to South Africa, Saudi Arabia and Scandinavia. William and Kate’s honeymoon tour of Canada was paid by the Canadian government.

The Foreign Office said today that the trips helped promote the UK abroad.

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