Only in the past year, the members of the royal family were able to collect $104 million worth of taxes from the citizens of the United Kingdom, based on the Royal Household’s yearly financial report. Aside from the Queen’s private chef and baby Archie’s babysitter, most of the royal’s expenses came from the Buckingham Palace’s renovation and business-related air-travels.
The Royal Family’s Expenses
From April 2018 until March 2019, the royals used up $42 million worth of British funds to rehabilitate the households of Prince Harry, Meghan Markle, Kate Middleton, and Prince William. A total of $3.4 million was spent to finance the restoration and repairs of the Buckingham Palace, and they allotted another $19.3 million budget for further upgrade needs.
The upgrades mainly enlist some electrical work in the east wing, so the Queen and her staff needed to evacuate the part of the palace. They also fixed-up the property’s foundation and had to build in elevators.
Other Parts of the Palace Are Under Renovations Too
Meanwhile, the home of Prince William, Kate Middleton, and the rest of the royal family, also needed revitalization. A total of $1.7 million went towards the expenses for the renovation of the Kensington Palace’s entrance, reinstatement of the electrical and mechanical infrastructure of the aged stables cabins, and other amenities. Based on the official reports, Prince Richard and his spouse Birgitte, Duchess of Gloucester, will relocate to the royal estate this 2019.
On the other hand, the Frogmore Cottage’s remodeling project where Meghan Markle, Prince Harry, and their newly-born son Archie are residing, costs $3 million. The property used to be the command post of the royal staff, which consists of five impoverished residential units. The taxpayers paid a total amount of $29.5 million to the two-hundred seventy-six male workers and two-hundred seventy-nine female employees of the royal family in 2018.
Overseas Engagements
In a full-year length, the Queen and the members of the royal family went on 3,200 business ventures that cost $19,000. While 140 of those were from the Queen’s local engagements, the royal family also had to spend $1.2 million for their work-related royal tours abroad. Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, for example, accumulated an estimated amount of $103,000 on their Fiji and Tonga trip in October of 2018.
Some of the other royal expenses include Prince Charles and Camilla’s 532,000-dollar cocktail masterclass during their twelve-day Caribbean tour, Prince William’s classified mission with the United Kingdom’s MI5 and MI6 agents worth $94,100, and more overseas travels.
According to the reports, a large percentage of the royal expenses came from the rentals of private jets for their business ventures abroad. The royal family had more foreign engagements from April 2018 until March 2019 compared to 2017-2018, on which they only had one overseas trip.
