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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
National
Tom Davidson

Royal Family member who racked up highest world travel costs revealed

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.

Charles and Camilla have always been very active royals together (pictured in India in 2006) (Getty Images)
Prince Charles has been described as a terrific ambassador for Britain (Getty Images)

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.

Britain's Prince Charles lays a wreath as he arrives in Havana, Cuba (REUTERS)
The Prince of Wales arrives at Hewanorra International Airport, St Lucia (PA)

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 .

£2.4m has been spent on renovating Frogmore Cottage (Alamy Stock Photo)

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.

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 Duke and Duchess of Sussex decided to move to Frogmore Cottage - but it required renovations to be up to their standards (REX)
Meghan Markle with husband Prince Harry (REUTERS)

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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