King Charles and Queen Camilla have been told the glittering show they plan to put on for the President of Nigeria’s State Visit could be impacted after one set of officials said they would provide ”only the basics” in a row about money.
The Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead, where Windsor Castle is located, said it had paid out a six figure sum in 2025 to support State Visits and it couldn’t afford to keep doing that without reimbursement from central government.
(Cpl Danielle Dawson/ UK MOD © Crown copyright 2025)
Windsor Castle is now the setting for incoming State Visits as Buckingham Palace is undergoing repair work to many of the areas usually used for high level trips. In 2025, King Charles and Queen Camilla hosted US President, Donald Trump, at Windsor as well as Emmanuel Macron, President of France and Franz Walter Steinmeier, President of Germany.the u
The costs to the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead were put at around £350,000 for its support work during the three visits.
The council told the BBC that ”while we appreciate the wider impact this may have for our multi-agency partners, with planning already under way for the visit in March by the president of Nigeria, we don’t have a budget for this support.”
(Sgt Donald C Todd/ UK MOD © Crown copyright 2025)
And it added ”local taxpayers can’t continue to be expected to shoulder the burden of decisions made by government to host state visits in Windsor.”
The deputy leader of the council, Lynne Jones, said it was time that the government gave reassurances that costs will be reimbursed. And she added that the council would only do ”the basics” for the next State Visit which is set to get underway in March when the President of Nigeria arrives in Windsor.
The issue has already been raised in the House of Commons by the MP for Maidenhead, Joshua Reynolds, who asked when the costs incurred by the council would be given back to it. He was told that the bill has usually been picked up by a number of departments and matters were currently under review.
(Official White House Photo by Daniel Torok)
State Visits are seen as a vital part of diplomacy with The King, as Head of State, welcoming other Head of State on the advice of the government. The focus of a State Visit is to improve relations between the two countries involved and the nations invited are chosen by the government, not the Monarch.
Work undertaken by the council for State Visits includes closing roads and car parks to allow the traditional carriage procession to take place and to facilitate security.
Ahead of the State Visit by German President, Franz Walter Steinmeier, the council warned it couldn’t keep paying for work involved in such trips.
Now, it says that the money it has spent in the past year could have paid the salaries of nine primary school teachers and it has again raised concerns that its residents are paying for the event.
