Fewer royal family visits abroad cut their travel costs by £600,000 to £3.9 million
Royals cut their travel bill by £600,000 to £3.9m as family members make fewer overseas visits at government request
- The King and Queen’s Commonwealth visit to Rwanda cost taxpayers £186,500
The royal travel bill fell by £600,000 to £3.9 million last year as family members made fewer visits abroad at the government’s request.
The most expensive trip was last year’s official visit by the then Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall to the meeting of Commonwealth Heads of Government in Rwanda, which cost the taxpayer £186,500.
This was followed closely by their first state visit as King and Queen to Germany in March, which raised £146,219.
Working members of the royal family undertook more than 2,700 assignments in the UK and abroad last year.
When the new Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh traveled to the Caribbean on behalf of the late Queen on an official Platinum Jubilee tour, the cost of the trip was £85,000.
The most expensive trip was the official visit of the then Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall to the meeting of Commonwealth heads of government in Rwanda last year (pictured), which cost the taxpayer £186,500
When the new Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh traveled to the Caribbean on behalf of the late Queen for an official Platinum Jubilee tour (pictured), the cost of the trip was £85,000
And the Prince and Princess of Wales’ trip to Boston for the Earthshot awards in December cost £48,000.
However, some of the most notable travel has taken place in the UK, with extensive use of helicopters and private jets by all senior royals.
Princess Anne spent £18,000 on a charter plane for a day of engagements in Scotland last November, plus nearly £20,000 on a charter flight to Edinburgh to attend a Scotland-Wales rugby international in February from her home in Gloucestershire.
The late Queen Elizabeth spent £40,902 traveling to Balmoral and back for a short break in May last year.
And the new King and Queen spent £26,000 to travel from Scotland to London to perform their first official duties following Queen Elizabeth’s death in September, plus a further £43,000 to travel from London to Scotland and Northern Ireland , where they met with dignitaries and accepted condolences.
A further £27,000 was also spent from them to travel back to Aberdeen.
A total of £1.02 million was also spent on 179 helicopter flights costing less than £17,000 each, £389,000 on 40 charter flights, £117,000 on scheduled flights and £86,000 on scheduled rail journeys.
And the Prince and Princess of Wales’ trip to Boston (pictured) for the Earthshot awards in December cost £48,000
The royal train – which was used just four times last year at an average cost of £30,656 – will continue to chug for now after receiving a royal reprieve.
Palace staff had previously indicated that the maroon-liveried train, which can only be used by the monarch and the heir to the throne, would be revised after her death.
However, a senior palace official said yesterday that it was “too early” in His Majesty’s reign to determine what the future use of the train might be.
He argued that it has always been a “useful asset” to his travel portfolio because it was “effective and operationally efficient”, allowing senior royals to travel safely to remote locations at night and complete a full program of engagements.
The official indicated that they would monitor the situation before deciding whether to come up with a plan to dismantle it.