WELL, £80k THAT’S to RICH host £213m Duke
Taxpayers will foot hefty palace bill as aristocrat attends Kirk assembly
TAXPAYERS will foot the £80,000plus bill for Scotland’s largest private landowner to spend a week at the Queen’s official residence. The Duke of Buccleuch, whose family have an estimated £213million fortune, will stay at the Palace of Holyroodhouse, Edinburgh, in May, while he attends the General Assembly of the Kirk. He will be representing the monarch in his new role as Lord High Commissioner. Some £80,000 of public money will be spent on catering alone during his eight-day visit, where he will be “treated like the Queen”. Labour MSP Neil Findlay hit out yesterday, saying: “The Duke of Buccleuch is one of the wealthiest individuals in the country. “He is the one of the last people who should be enjoying free digs and a lavish £80,000 hospitality budget at Holyrood Palace.
“I’d rather see the extensive palace accommodation and such a large sum of money opened up to the increasing number of homeless people we see shivering on the streets of the capital.”
As Lord High Commissioner, a role filled by Princess Anne last year, the duke will attend the General Assembly as an observer.
A Scottish Government spokeswoman said: “There is a long-standing arrangement for the Scottish Government to contribute to the costs of the Lord High Commissioner.”
A Palace spokeswoman said: “The Lord High Commissioner fulfils an important function, representing and maintaining historic links between the Church of Scotland and the sovereign.”
The Church of Scotland declined to comment.