Prince Charles racked up the highest travel costs among the Royal Family, according to new figures on their finances.
The Duke of Cornwall is the busiest royal and commentators frequently label him a 'terrific ambassador for Britain'.
The overall travel budget for the whole family amounted to £2.7m between April 1, 2018 and March 31, 2019.
Nearly half of that – £1.3m – was Charles' own personal travel cost.
The cost of Charles and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall’s, travel by air and rail rose by nearly a third from £1.01million to £1.33million this year.
The review, however, stated that Charles used the train the most which cost around £20,000 per trip.
Charles and Camilla’s royal tour of the Caribbean and Cuba in February amounted to a £417,000.
Their travel to west Africa totalled £216,000, although only trips worth more than £15,000 are required to be logged.
Speaking on the review, a Palace aide said: “His overseas travel was at the behest of the Foreign Office who realise he is a terrific ambassador for Britain.”
Royal accounts revealed that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex spent £2.4 million of taxpayers' money on renovating their new home Frogmore Cottage .
The monarchy cost the taxpayer £67 million during 2018-19 – an increase of almost £20 million on the previous financial year.
Much of that increase is down to the £15m being spent on the ongoing renovation of Buckingham Palace.
Sovereign Grant key figures
Here are some of the key figures from the royal accounts for 2018-19:
- £2.4 million – Cost to the taxpayer of renovating the Duke and Duchess of Sussex's Frogmore Cottage.
- £67 million – Taxpayer funds spent by the monarchy on official duties such as travel, as well as other costs including staff, hospitality and property maintenance.
- £82.2 million – The total taxpayer-funded Sovereign Grant, including £15.2 million held in reserve to pay for future phases of building works at Buckingham Palace.
- £1.24 – Cost per person in the UK of funding the Sovereign Grant.
- 74p – Cost per person of the "core" part of the Sovereign Grant – not including funds for the long-term Buckingham Palace works.
- £343.5 million – Profits of the Crown Estate, a jump of 4.3%, which will provide the Queen with a Sovereign Grant of around £85.9 million in 2020-21.
- £5.05 million – Cost of Harry and Meghan and William and Kate's activities, plus the Prince of Wales's other expenditure including his capital expenditure and transfer to reserves – paid for by his Duchy of Cornwall income.
- £3.16 million – Charles's non-official expenditure – a rise of 5.2% or £155,000 – in the year Harry and Meghan wed.
- £21.6 million – Charles's annual private income from the Duchy of Cornwall landed estate.
- £668,000 – Official costs of Charles's London office and official residence Clarence House, up 252% or £478,000.
- £4.7 million – Charles's tax bill.
- £29,714 – Cost of the Queen and Meghan's journey on the Royal Train to Chester and charter flight back to RAF Northolt in June last year.
£416,576 – Cost of Charles and Camilla's flights to the Caribbean and Cuba in March – including a staff planning trip.
140 – Official duties carried out by the Queen in the last year.
More than 3,200 – Engagements by royals in the UK and overseas.
463 – Full-time equivalent staff paid for from the Sovereign Grant, with the wage bill coming to £23.2 million
£2.3 million – Cost of housekeeping and hospitality, listed in the Buckingham Palace accounts.
Republic, which calls for an elected head of state, questioned why £2.4 million of taxpayers' money had been "thrown" at Meghan and Harry's Frogmore Cottage residence while public services were under financial pressure.
The property, close to Windsor Castle, underwent major work to turn five properties back into a single residence for the couple and their baby son Archie – with all fixtures and fittings paid for privately by the Duke and Duchess.
The annual royal accounts were released on Monday and, at a press briefing, Sir Michael Stevens, Keeper of the Privy Purse, who is responsible for the monarchy's accounts, gave details of the Sovereign Grant, the funding used to pay for the Queen's official duties and areas such as royal travel, salaries and the upkeep of occupied royal palaces.
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