Clarence House has released its annual accounts which reveal that funding for the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and the Duke of Sussex, including capital expenditure and transfer to reserves, has grown by forty per cent in a year which saw both a royal baby and a royal wedding.
The increased expenditure on the activities of the Cambridges and Sussexes is accounted for under “Other Costs” on the Prince of Wales annual accounts, with Prince Charles having paid £4.96 million for them last year which was an increase of £1.43m from the previous year.
Palace sources noted that the extra £1.43 coincided with the arrival of the Duchess of Sussex as an official member of the royal family but they declined to provide specifics on just how much of this was spent on funding her activities and engagements. What they would share was that the increase also reflected the young royals increased role in public life as The Queen reduces the number of commitments she undertakes.
Speaking about the annual accounts, the Prince’s principle private secretary, Clive Alderton, said that the past 12 months have included “moments of great joy for the Royal family”.
He added: “The Duke and Duchess of Sussex became engaged, their wedding itself seemed to me a day when not just the sun shone but Britain itself shone – and right round the world. The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge announced that they were expecting another child and the Prince of Wales’s third grandchild Prince Louis was born in April.”
The money for these costs (which do not include travel, as that is funded by The Queen from the Sovereign Fund, paid for by UK taxpayers) comes from the Duchy of Cornwall, the Prince of Wales’ hereditary estate which covers more than 131,000 acres across 23 counties in south-west England and London. Figures show that Prince Charles received a record £21.73m from the Duchy in the year to the end of March 2018.
