Charles, the ‘ambassador for Brexit’

A GLOBE-TROTTING Prince Charles will play a vital role in post-Brexit Britain, it was claimed last night.

Figures released voluntarily by the Prince of Wales today show he had an income in 2016/17 of £22.5million – £20.7million from the Duchy of Cornwall and £1.3million from the Sovereign Grant paid to the Queen, plus money from government departments.

He spent £10. million on official costs – including £ 25,000 on travel, up 40 per cent on 2015/16. His private secretary Clive Alderton said Charles’s role was vital as the UK prepared to leave the EU.

‘As the UK defines new types of partnerships with our friend inside and outside the European Union, their Royal Highnesses are continuing to work hard at home and abroad to protect and enhance our country’s interests,’ he said.

‘I sense that personal connections – or what the jargon calls “people-to-people links” – will have an important role to play in defining this new chapter in relations with our friends and neighbours around the world.’

The Clarence House figures show the prince’s tax bill has decreased by 5.1 per cent – or £257,000 – to £4.75million. He offset a larger amount of expenses from his income, on which he voluntarily pays tax at the full rate, than in 2015/16.

The Queen is to receive an inflation-busting ‘pay rise’ of more than 8 per cent from the taxpayer next year, Buckingham Palace accounts reveal. Her official net expenditure over the past 12 months increased by £2million to almost £42million, while the Crown Estate saw a £24.7million rise in profits to £328.8million.

Under the Sovereign Grant funding formula, which pays for costs such as royal household salaries, official travel and the upkeep of royal palaces, the Queen receives a percentage of the Crown Estate profits to cover official expenditure. In the 2018/1 financial year, the grant is expected to be £82.2million, an increase of just over £6million.