How the royals spent £3.9million on foreign trips last year

The most expensive journey made by any Royal Family member over the last financial year was Charles and Camilla’s charter flight to Rwanda – costing £186,571.

The King and Queen attended a Commonwealth leaders’ summit in Kigali in June last year, when they were known as Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall.

The couple flew from Brize Norton in Oxfordshire in an RAF Voyager to meet prime ministers and presidents at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting.

His visit was notable for him telling leaders that keeping the British monarch as head of state or becoming a republic was ‘a matter for each member country to decide’.

The trip ran from June 21 to 25 – and the total sum also paid for the King to travel from Brize Norton to Aberdeen on the day of his return, and for a staff planning visit from Heathrow to Nairobi in Kenya, Kigali and Doha in Qatar between May 2 to 8.

It comes as new royal accounts showed royal travel costs have fallen by £600,000 to £3.9million, but the expenditure on helicopter flights has topped £1million. 

The second priciest journey in the financial year was Charles and Camilla’s £146,219 three-day trip to Germany in March this year for the first state visit of his new reign.

1) The most expensive royal trip was Charles and Camilla’s charter flight to Rwanda on an RAF Voyager in June last year to attend a Commonwealth leaders’ summit, costing £186,571

2) Other major overseas trips included the King and Queen’s first state visit, which took them to Hamburg and Berlin on a tour of Germany by RAF Voyager in March costing £146,219

3) The Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh’s official Platinum Jubilee trip to St Lucia, St Vincent and Antigua in April last year, and a separate staff planning visit, cost £85,069

After again travelling from Brize Norton in a Voyager, they visited Hamburg and Berlin as Charles became the first UK monarch to address the German parliament.

Top ten most expension royal trips over 2022/23 financial year 

Charles and Camilla / Charter / June 21-25 / Brize Norton – Kigali – Brize Norton  / Attend Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting / £186,571Charles and Camilla / Charter / March 29-31 / Brize Norton – Berlin – Hamburg – Brize Norton / First Official Outward State Visit of King’s Reign to Germany / £146,219Edward and Sophie / Scheduled Air / April 22-28 / London Gatwick – St Lucia – London Gatwick / Official Platinum Jubilee tour to St Lucia, St Vincent and Antigua / £85,069Princess Anne / Charter / April 11-13  / Sydney – Papua New Guinea – Sydney / Official Platinum Jubilee Tour to Papua New Guinea / £51,108Prince William and Kate / Scheduled Air / November 30 – December 2 / London Heathrow – Boston – London Heathrow / Official FCDO visit to Boston to incorporate Earthshot Prize Awards 2022 / £48,034Charles and Camilla / Charter 12-13 / Northolt – Edinburgh – Belfast – Northolt / Attend ceremonies and receptions after death of Queen Elizabeth II / £43,335Queen Elizabeth II / Charter / May 26-31 May / Northolt – Aberdeen – Northolt / Residence to Residence / £40,902William / Charter / Mar 22-23 / Northolt – Rzeszow – Warsaw – Northolt / Official FCDO visit to Poland / £39,641Princess Anne / Charter / January 24-25 / Brize Norton – Tallinn – Brize Norton / As Colonel-in-Chief, visit The King’s Royal Hussars, Operation Cabrit, Estonia / £36,375Queen Elizabeth II / Royal Train / June 30 – July 1 / Edinburgh – Kings Lynn / Return from Royal Week at the Palace of Holyroodhouse / £32,425 

 

The third most expensive trip was Prince Edward and Sophie’s seven-day Platinum Jubilee tour to the Caribbean which saw them visit Antigua and Barbuda, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and Saint Lucia.

But their visit, which saw the couple use London Gatwick Airport, was marked by anti-colonial protests and calls for slavery reparations.

The total cost of the trip was £85,069 which also included staff planning visits to the region over the same period.

In fourth place was Princess Anne and her husband Sir Timothy Lawrence’s visit to Sydney and Papua New Guinea in April last year, which came in at £51,108.

Fifth was Prince William and Kate’s trip from London Heathrow to Boston in the US in November last year to attend an awards ceremony for the Earthshot Prize, costing £48,034.

Behind that was the £43,335 spent on trips by Charles and Camilla following Queen Elizabeth II’s death in September last year, including to Edinburgh and Belfast where they attended various ceremonies and receptions. 

And in seventh place was the £40,902 it cost for the late Queen Elizabeth II to travel to her Scottish residence Balmoral in May last year, which saw her use RAF Northolt in West London to go to and from Aberdeen Airport.

There were also a number of residence to residence chartered flights made by Charles.

One taken from Aberdeen to Northolt last October cost £25,687, while another with Camilla, travelling from Northolt to Aberdeen in September, cost £23,164.

A large number of trips were taken by helicopter, 179 journeys in total, during 2022-23, but their details are not listed as they fall below a £17,000 cost threshold.

The information was released in the Sovereign Grant annual report on royal finances for 2022-23, which listed major royal trips.

During a briefing for last year accounts a source said Charles is ‘pretty allergic’ to travelling by helicopter and will always ‘raise an eyebrow’ and object when the mode of transport is suggested.

The drop in travel costs for 2022-23 may in part be explained by a fall in the number of overseas trips.

A Buckingham Palace spokesman said: ‘We also saw a 43 per cent decrease in business travel emissions, largely due to the reduced number of overseas visits requested by Government this year.’ 

4) In fourth place was Princess Anne and her husband Sir Timothy Lawrence’s visit to Sydney and Papua New Guinea in April last year, which came in at £51,108

5) Prince William and Kate’s scheduled airline flight, and a staff planning visit, to Boston in the US to attend the awards ceremony for the Earthshot Prize last November cost £48,034

6) Some £43,335 was spent on trips by Charles and Camilla following Queen Elizabeth II’s death last September, including to Edinburgh and Belfast where they attended ceremonies

The report also showed the King used the royal train in January, travelling from Ayr to Manchester to carry out a string of engagements at both locations over two days at a cost of £31,571.

Other royal journeys by air and rail costing less than £17,000 each 

Helicopter (179 journeys) £1,020,297Charter flight (40 journeys) £389,450Scheduled flight £117,253Scheduled rail £85,696

Asked about the future of the royal train a Buckingham Palace spokesman said: ‘Once we determine what the future usage will be we’d be in a position to consider plans for a timetable for decommissioning.’

Also in the royal accounts, it was revealed that  the heating has been turned down at Buckingham Palace and other royal homes to cut emissions, reflecting the King’s green credentials.

Guests, staff and the royal family were living with temperatures set at 19C during the winter and a few degrees lower when rooms were empty.

Charles spoke extensively before becoming King about the importance of the environment, tackling climate change and protecting wildlife, and even recycled his Clarence House bathwater and runs his Aston Martin on sustainable fuel.

Sovereign Grant accounts show Charles has begun his reign with royal expenditure, funded by the taxpayer, rising for the second year running.

7) In seventh place was the £40,902 it cost for the late Queen Elizabeth II to travel to Balmoral, which saw her use RAF Northolt in West London to go to and from Aberdeen Airport

8) Prince William made an official visit by charter plane to Poland in March which cost £39,641

9) Prince Anne made a visit to Tallinn in January which cost £36,375. As Colonel-in-Chief of The King’s Royal Hussars, The Princess Royal met with the Regiment in Estonia

The figure for net expenditure increased by £5.1million, or 5 per cent, to £107.5 million for 2022-23, which royal aides said was due to the change of monarchs, inflation and the continued costs of Buckingham Palace’s reservicing programme, a 10-year project to update the electrical cabling, plumbing and heating.

How much does the Royal Family cost? A breakdown of key data

Here are some of the key figures from the royal accounts for 2022-2023:

£86.3 million – The total taxpayer-funded Sovereign Grant, made up of £51.8 million for the “core” funding and an extra £34.5 million for the reservicing of Buckingham Palace.£107.5 million – Official net expenditure by the monarchy, a rise of £5.1 million or 5% from £102.4 million in 2021/2022.£1.6 million – Amount spent from the Sovereign Grant on the late Queen’s funeral.£700,000 – Amount spent from the Sovereign Grant on the Platinum Jubilee (including £300,000 from 2022-23)517 – Full-time equivalent staff paid for from the Sovereign Grant, including fixed term contracts, up from 491.£27.1 million – The wage bill for staff, up £3.4 million, or 14%, from £23.7 million the year before.£2.4 million – Cost of housekeeping and hospitality for the royal household, up £1.1 million from £1.3 million.£3.9 million – Cost of official royal travel, a drop of £0.6 million or about 13%, from £4.5 million the previous year.£1.02 million – Cost of 179 helicopter journeys made by members of the royal family.£186,571 – Cost of charter flights for the King and Queen to Rwanda for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting.£146,219 – Charter flights for the King and Queen’s first official state visit, to Germany in March 2023.£25,687 – Cost of a residence-to-residence charter flight for the King, when he flew from Aberdeen to Northolt in October 2022.£1.29 – Cost per person in the UK of funding the total Sovereign Grant77p – Cost per person of the “core” part of the Sovereign Grant for official duties, not including funds for the long-term Buckingham Palace works.183,207 – Items of correspondence received by Buckingham Palace in 2022-23 including 67,693 before the Queen’s death, and 115,244 afterwards, making it the busiest year on record for incoming post.9.7% – Proportion of staff from ethnic minority backgrounds working for Buckingham Palace, compared with 9.7% in 2021-22 and 8.5% in 2020-21. The target was 10% and is now 14%.16.3% – Proportion of staff from ethnic minority backgrounds working for Kensington Palace. (13.6% last year)More than 2,700 – Official engagements by members of the royal family in the UK and overseas, compared with 2,300 last year.£5.9 million – Prince of Wales’s private income from the Duchy of Cornwall landed estate – for about six months he spent as a new heir to the throne in 2022-23.£6.9 million – Amount of money kept by the landed estate for day-to-day running, instead of going to William as salary.£12.8 million – Salary the King received as the Prince of Wales from the Duchy.£24 million – The total annual Duchy of Cornwall profit for 2022-23, which would ordinarily have been William’s full salary.

The Sovereign Grant remained unchanged at £86.3million during 2022/23.

A core element of £51.8 million funds the King’s official duties and his household – equivalent to 77p per person in the UK – and an additional £34.5million pays for ongoing reservicing costs for the palace.

The royal household has failed again to meet its diversity target, set in 2021, of drawing 10 per cent of its workforce from ethnic minorities, with the 2023 figure of 9.7 per cent the same as last year.

Payroll costs was one of the biggest annual increases of any expenditure during 2022-23, rising £3.4million to 27.1million, with staff given a pay rise of about 5 to 6 per cent, and the workforce increased to pre-pandemic levels as royal activities picked up after the lockdowns.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s vacation of Frogmore Cottage was officially confirmed by a Buckingham Palace spokesman.

But they would not speculate on the next tenant, with reports claiming the disgraced Duke of York is resisting a downsizing move from his Royal Lodge home to Harry and Meghan’s former home.

Sir Michael Stevens, Keeper of the Privy Purse, said the past 12 months had been ‘a year of grief, change and celebration, the like of which our nation has not witnessed for seven decades’.

He added: ‘These past 12 months have taken us from the Platinum Jubilee in the summer of last year, to the sadness of the death of Queen Elizabeth and the accession of our new sovereign in the autumn, via an incoming and outgoing state visit and many months of work in preparation for the coronation of their majesties King Charles and Queen Camilla in the spring of this year.’

There was a mixed picture for expenditure in other areas, with housekeeping and hospitality up from £1.3million to £2.4million, and property maintenance falling £6.1million to £57.8million.

The Sovereign Grant document reported on the royal household’s sustainability efforts, highlighting a number of initiatives including: ‘A concerted effort to reduce occupied room set points to 19C during the winter, as well as educate staff to turn down the temperature in vacant rooms to 16C and be more aware of the potential for reducing heat loss.’

A palace spokesman said ‘His majesty has obviously supported the strategic direction of the royal households in its attempts to achieve net zero.’

He added: ‘In the short term though, it is all about reducing our emissions where we can control our emissions and in adjusting room temperatures, whether that’s during the working week or whether that’s a limiting of the effect of heating on weekends.

‘Or whether it’s turning off the gas lamps where it’s safe to do so, as a precursor to changing them over to electric operation, or indeed if it’s the case of turning the heating off on the swimming pool – these are all areas which are about the steps that we can take to reduce our emissions.’

The report showed £1.6million was spent on the Queen’s funeral and events around the ceremony, which included paying for engagements at Buckingham Palace and staff costs and travel, said a palace spokesman.

A further £700,000 was spent by the royal household on the Platinum Jubilee.

The Queen’s former private secretary Lord Young, who stayed on as joint principal private secretary to the King to help the transition from one monarch to another, received a compensation payment of £145,000-£150,000, on top of his £200,000 – £205,000 salary, after stepping down in May.

The King and Queen plan to use the late Queen’s private apartments at Buckingham Palace when refurbishment works are completed there, a Palace official said.

‘It is currently the intention that their majesties will occupy the private apartments of her late majesty at the end of the reservicing programme. And at this point, I’m not in a position to speculate on the future of Clarence House,’ he said.

Work is still to be undertaken on the Palace’s North Wing, and with a timescale of 18 months needed to ‘decant’ this part of the palace, with 70,000 objects having to be moved to a temporary home.

This will be followed by two years of construction on the North Wing, with the full building work project expected to be finished in 2027.

Separate financial information relating to the Prince of Wales was also released, showing William received a private income of nearly £6million from the Duchy of Cornwall, but was criticised for not publishing an annual report in his first year as heir to the throne.

Graham Smith, chief executive of Republic, which campaigns for an elected head of state, criticised the rise in royal expenditure as the country experienced a cost-of-living crisis.

He said: ‘Charles has suggested he’s concerned about, and aware of, the cost-of-living crisis and yet he seems completely oblivious to his need to reduce costs and they continue to go up and up, whilst public services are being squeezed.

‘Really they should be slashing the budget by tens of millions of pounds, not increasing it by £5million.’

SCHEDULE OF JOURNEYS COSTING £17,000+ FOR FINANCIAL YEAR 2022/2023 Household Method of travel Date Itinerary Description of engagements Cost The King Royal Train 04-Apr Kemble – Darlington Visit Darlington Farmers Auction Mart; visit Kromek Group, Sedgefield; visit Auckland Castle, Bishop Auckland; visit Spanish Gallery, Bishop Auckland. £27,645 The Princess Royal Charter 11-13 Apr Sydney – Papua New Guinea – Sydney Official Platinum Jubilee Tour to Papua New Guinea. £51,108 The King and The Queen Charter 13-14 Apr Aberdeen – Northolt – Aberdeen Attend Maundy Service. £30,423 The Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh Scheduled Air 22-28 Apr London Gatwick – St Lucia London Gatwick Official Platinum Jubilee tour to St Lucia, St Vincent and Antigua. £85,069 Charter 23-25 Apr St Lucia – St Vincent – St Lucia – Antigua – St Lucia Staff Scheduled Air 20-28 Apr London Heathrow – Antigua London Heathrow Staff planning visit. The Prince and Princess of Wales Charter 8-10 May Northolt – Manchester – Edinburgh – Glasgow – Northolt Unveil Glade of Light Memorial, visit St Johns Primary School, visit Wheatley Housing Group, visit University of Glasgow, visit Heart of Midlothian Football Club. £27,476 The late Queen Charter 26-31 May Northolt – Aberdeen – Northolt Residence to Residence. £40,902 The King and The Queen Charter 21-25 Jun Brize Norton – Kigali – Brize Norton Attend Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM). £186,571 The King Charter 25-25 Jun Brize Norton – Aberdeen Staff Scheduled Air 2-8 May London Heathrow – Nairobi – Kigali – Doha London Heathrow Staff planning visit The late Queen Royal Train 26-27 Jun Windsor and Eton Riverside – Edinburgh Royal Week at the Palace of Holyroodhouse. £30,926 The Princess Royal Charter 28-30 Jun Kemble – Edinburgh – Norwich – Edinburgh – Kemble Visit Strathcarron Hospice, hold an Investiture on behalf of HM The Queen and attend a 40th anniversary reception for Motor Neuron Disease Scotland. Visit the 175th Royal Norfolk Show and attend The Royal Agricultural Society of Commonwealth AGM, attend HMs Garden Party at Palace of Holyroodhouse followed by a The Royal Celtic Society Reception. Attend Thistle Service at Giles Cathedral and luncheon at Palace of Holyroodhouse, followed by a reception at The University of Edinburgh. £25,729 The late Queen Royal Train 30-Jun 01 Jul Edinburgh – Kings Lynn Return from the Royal Week at the Palace of Holyroodhouse £32,425 The Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh Charter 30 Jun – 01 Jul Edinburgh – Farnborough Visit to Gordonstoun School to present Moray Badges and a Queens Award for Voluntary Service to Gordonstoun Fire Service. Visit Cooper Park to unveil a plaque to commemorate 7 lime trees that have been planted during Queens Green Canopy season. Visit Food Plus, a foodbank and to present a Queens Award for Voluntary Service. Visit to Fochabers Folk and Heritage Museum to see Duke of Edinburgh artifacts and present volunteer thank you certificates. Visit to The Duke of Edinburghs Award Anniversary Stones and Garden to unveil a commemorative stone, present Moray Badges and present a Queens Award for Voluntary. Visit Motherwell Ravenscraig Regional Sports Facility for The Duke of Edinburghs Award and meet participants. Visit Forfar to participate at Strathmore Rugby and Football Club and meet the coaches; meet community project assistants as they celebrate their 5th anniversary. Tour at Sailing Club and meet staff. £32,259 S76 Holyrood – Lossiemouth – Fochabers – Holyrood – Motherwell – Forfar – Holyrood The King Charter 29-Jul Brize Norton – Wick Visit The Healing Oxygen Hub, Wick; visit Carnegie Library, Wick; visit The Dunnet Community Forest, Dunnet. £18,946 The King and The Queen Charter 09-Sep Aberdeen – Northolt Residence to residence in support of London Bridge/Spring Tide. £25,928 The King and The Queen Charter 12-13 Sep Northolt – Edinburgh – Belfast – Northolt Scotland: Attend Ceremony of the Keys at the Palace of Holyroodhouse and attend the Service of Prayer and Reflection at St. Giles’ Cathedral. Receive the First Minister and Presiding Officer at the Palace of Holyroodhouse. Attend Scottish Parliament Reception at the Scottish Parliament Building. Mount a vigil at St. Giles’ Cathedral. Belfast: Receive the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Leaders of the Main Political parties and Speaker. Attend Northern Ireland Assembly Reception at Hillsborough Castle and Service of Prayer and Reflection at St. Anne’s Cathedral in Belfast. London: Attend Privy Council Meeting at Buckingham Palace. £43,335 The King and The Queen Charter 20-Sep Northolt – Aberdeen Residence to residence. £23,164 The Duke of Edinburgh Charter 21-22 Sep Farnborough – Tallinn – Paderborn – Farnborough Estonia: Meet His Majesty’s Ambassador to the Republic of Estonia. Visit TAPA, Operation CABRIT Battlegroup Headquarters. Tallinn: meet Commanding Officer of The Royal Wessex Yeomanry; visit Normandy Barracks, Officer’s Mess. £27,613 The Prince and Princess of Wales Charter 06-Oct Northolt – Belfast City – Northolt – Marham Visit Public Initiative for Prevention of Suicide and Self Harm, 279 Antrim Road, Belfast; visit Trademarket, 14-16 Dublin Road, Belfast; visit Carrick Connect, 2 Castle Street, Carrickfergus. £22,648 The King Charter 17-Oct Aberdeen – Northolt Residence to residence. £25,687 The Princess Royal Charter 19-20 Oct Kemble – Glasgow – Prestwick – East Midlands – Northolt Re-Commission Seagull Trust Cruises Canal Passenger Boat in Kirkintilloch, visit Sense Scotland TouchBase project at Bishopbriggs, Dunbartonshire, before a visit to the Columba1400 on the Blair Estate project followed by a Columba1400 Dinner at the Blair Estate, Ayr and Arran. Visit Curling Stones Manufacturer, Ayr and Arran. Visit Ashmount, Ruddington and Wenlo Riding for the Disabled Association Group, Loughborough, before attending The Seven Seas Club Centenary and Trafalgar Night Dinner at 1 Whitehall Place, London £17,431 The Princess Royal Charter 16-Nov Kemble – Edinburgh – Kemble Attend Service of Thanksgiving and Annual General Meeting for St. Margaret’s Chapel Guild at St. Margaret’s Chapel, Edinburgh; attend the 950th Anniversary of the Founding of Priory Service at Dunfermline Abbey. £18,338 The Prince and Princess of Wales Scheduled Air 30 Nov – 2 Dec London Heathrow – Boston – London Heathrow Official FCDO visit to Boston to incorporate Earthshot Prize Awards 2022. £48,034 Staff Scheduled Air 20-21 Sep, 16-19 Oct London Heathrow – Boston – London Heathrow Staff planning visit The Princess Royal Charter 17-19 Jan Kemble – Edinburgh – Kemble Open Kalopsia Collective’s new Textiles Facility, Dunfermline; as Chancellor, University of Edinburgh, visit FastBlade Structural Testing Facility, Rosyth, Dunfermline; attend a Royal Caledonian Hunt Dinner to mark the 200th Anniversary of Royal Patronage, Edinburgh. Hold two Investitures on behalf of HM The King at the Palace of Holyroodhouse; hold the University of Edinburgh Chancellor’s Dinner at the Palace of Holyroodhouse. Plant a tree in Jubilee Wood, Holyrood Park, Edinburgh, to commemorate The late Queen’s Platinum Jubilee; re-open Lady Haig Poppy Factory, Edinburgh; as Chancellor, University of Edinburgh attend Reception for Nurses and Midwives and as Patron Royal Zoological Society of Scotland visit WildGenes Laboratory, Edinburgh Zoo, 134 Corstorphine Road, Edinburgh, to mark the Laboratory’s Tenth Anniversary. £17,073 The King Royal Train 19-20 Jan Ayr – Manchester Hold a Meeting at Dumfries House, Cumnock, Ayrshire, for The Prince’s Trust and The Prince’s Trust International; hold a Dinner at Dumfries House for representatives from the Diplomatic Corps; meet members of staff and view a school class taking place at Northwest hub of Government Communications Headquarters, Heron House, Albert Square, Manchester; visit Kellogg’s factory, Park Road, Trafford Park, Stretford, Manchester, to mark the Company’s Centenary in the United Kingdom; tour the Culinary Centre and view a cooking demonstration before visiting the factory floor. The King and The Queen Consort attend Reception for representatives from the local community at Bolton Town Hall, Victoria Square, Bolton; visit Norbrook Community Centre, Withenshawe, Bordley Walk, Wythenshawe, Manchester; tour the renovated outdoor area of the Community Centre and the sports facilities before watching young people playing sport and meeting members of the Centre. £31,571 The Princess Royal Charter 24-25 Jan Brize Norton – Tallinn – Brize Norton As Colonel-in-Chief, visit The King’s Royal Hussars, Operation CABRIT, Estonia. £36,375 The Princess Royal Charter 09-Feb Kemble – Glasgow – Kemble Re-open David Livingstone Birthplace, Lanarkshire; visit South Lanarkshire Housing Regeneration Project, Lanarkshire; attend 90th Anniversary Reception of The Friends of TS Queen Mary, Glasgow. £18,816 The Princess Royal Charter 11-Feb Brize Norton – Edinburgh – Brize Norton Attend Scottish Rugby Union 6 Nations International Match, Scotland v Wales. £19,815 The Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh Charter 10-13 Mar Farnborough – Edinburgh – Northolt Attend a Reception at Edinburgh City Chambers with Volunteer Edinburgh and The Ukrainian Club hosted by the Lord Provost; The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Scotland, Informal roundtable discussion with young adults. £18,860 The Prince of Wales Charter 22-23 Mar Northolt – Rzeszow – Warsaw – Northolt Official FCDO visit to Poland. £39,641 Staff Scheduled Air 1-4 Mar, 19-23 Mar London Heathrow – Warsaw London Heathrow Staff planning visit The King and The Queen Charter 29-31 Mar Brize Norton – Berlin – Hamburg – Brize Norton First Official Outward State Visit of His Majesty’s Reign to Germany. £146,219

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