Globe-trotting royals are costing us a king's ransom
£154,000 for first trip on royal jet £4.5m total cost – up 12% in a year
Taxpayers face a bill of up to £154,000 for the first official trip on the new ‘cost-cutting’ royal jet, Buckingham palace accounts reveal today.
The invoice, for prince Charles and his wife the Duchess of Cornwall to tour to romania, Italy and austria in March this year, is expected to be the single most expensive journey taken by a member of the royal Family in the past 12 months.
Their plane, an RAF-operated converted Voyager – nicknamed Cam Force One after former prime minister David Cameron, who sanctioned it – was refitted at a cost of £10million to provide official transport for Government ministers and members of the royal Family.
royal officials have ‘not yet received the bill’ from the RAF for Charles’s nine-day trip but have been given three estimates. The highest of the three, which features in the royal accounts released today, is £154,000.
In all £4.5million was spent on royal travel in 2016/2017 – a rise of £500,000 or 12.5 per cent, on the previous year. senior royals clocked up 65 overseas visits between them, to places as far flung as Bhutan, Malaysia and Bahrain.
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge racked-up the second most expensive trip when they visited India and Bhutan in april last year. scheduled flights for the couple and their entourage cost £35,372 with a further £62,331 spent on hiring a private jet to travel inside the two countries.
a further £24,241 was spent on hiring a jet for the couple and prince Harry to travel to the
‘It’s not the cheapest way to travel’
somme commemorations in France. prince William spent £37,334 on flights for a two-day visit to Vietnam in November.
a two-day visit to paris for William and Kate saw them hire a private jet for £20,330 rather than go by the much cheaper eurostar.
Despite giving up his globe-trotting role as a ‘special ambassador’ for trade, prince andrew continued to rack-up significant travel bills. scheduled flights to Malaysia cost £21,831 and a private jet to Turkey £36,990. a visit to Mozambique and Botswana cost £56,470 – £27,770 on scheduled flights and £28,700 on a private jet.
a royal aide said: ‘We are satisfied that the cost of the trip offered value for money. These visits are all determined by the royal Visit Committee according to set priorities of political, geographical and economic importance.’
Charles and Camilla spent £42,960 on planes for an official visit to Ireland and Northern Ireland in May, while the Queen hired a private jet to take her from Balmoral to Buckingham palace the same month at a cost of £16,963.
Charles also spent £73, 297 to charter a plane to take him to the funeral of former president shimon peres in Israel, while an official visit to the Middle east cost £92,605.
princess anne’s visit to archangel in russia cost £40,655 for a private jet. asked whether it had been suggested that the royal Family fly
Business Class instead of First Class, a senior aide replied: ‘It is not only suggested but they do occasionally travel business class.’
The royal train, which costs almost £900,000 a year, was used just 14 times in the 12-month period. One single journey for Prince Philip to attend a dinner in Devon cost £18,690, a trip to Wales to open the National Assembly a further £19,080 and a journey from London to Scotland for the Queen and Prince Philip £20,135. It also cost £46,038 for a trip to Lancashire by Prince Charles. An aide said: ‘We believe that although it’s not the cheapest way to travel, it does represent many of the features we look for in terms of safety, security, minimal disruption and convenience.’
Officials argue that the dedicated use of Cam Force One, based at Brize Norton in Oxfordshire, will save taxpayers at least £775,000 a year on the cost of private charters. When it is not on official use, the Airbus A330 – which is fitted with 58 seats – will be used for its original purpose, air to air refuelling missions.
An aide said of the £154,000 possible cost for Charles’s March trip: ‘The figure that is quoted is an estimate but we are expecting the final figure to be lower. We are all looking at the Voyager as, hopefully, a cost-effective way to undertake official visits overseas.’
Another official added: ‘We are also satisfied the use of Voyager will prove to be value for money against the cost of commercial charters, particularly for these longer overseas visits.’