Kate’s uncle raises a stink over loo fees in Royal Park
You might have thought the Duchess of Cambridge’s millionaire uncle Gary Goldsmith could afford to spend a penny, but he is furious that a 20p charge has just been introduced to use the loos across the Royal Parks, including Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park.
‘I find it offensive the Royal Parks are charging for public loos,’ complains Gary, who was a guest at Kate’s 2011 wedding to Prince William.
‘Totally unnecessary and extremely bad form. Parks should be totally free,’ he adds after being caught short while walking his dog near his home in London’s Marylebone.
The Royal Parks, which spend £1.5 million a year cleaning the public facilities, introduced the 20p charge last month across six of the eight parks they manage to help pay for maintenance and cleaning costs.
‘Government funding for The Royal Parks has been cut by more than a third in real terms since 2010/11, so we face some tough choices,’ says Dennis Clarke, Head of Park Services.
‘The 20p cost is a relatively modest charge compared with other toilet facilities in London. This will not generate any profits for The Royal Parks, but it will allow us to keep toilets open and reduce the amount by which we subsidise them.’
The charge pales in comparison to the £20,000 a week Goldsmith charges tenants at his Ibiza villa, Maison de Bang Bang. At least that eye-watering sum includes luxury bathroom facilities, including goldplated bathroom taps and a Jacuzzi.
Gary, who revels in the nickname ‘Gold Taps’, is said to have made £ 17 million after selling his IT recruitment company in 2005.
And, unlike most visitors to Kensington Gardens, the next time he needs to answer the call of nature he can always pop in to use the loo at his niece’s Kensington Palace home.