The cost of William and Kate's Caribbean tour has astonished UK taxpayers as the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge managed to spend hundreds of thousands of pounds on travel.
- Prince William and Kate Middleton's Caribbean trip took place earlier this year in March 2022.
- The tour was considered a PR nightmare for the couple after a series of protests to the Royal couple's presence in the Caribbean.
- In other royal news, Lady Louise finishes exams as news of reduced grades puts university places at risk.
In March, Prince William and Catherine visited Belize, Jamaica, and The Bahamas as part of a Caribbean tour to celebrate the Queen's Platinum Jubilee. It has now been revealed that this trip - which was considered disastrous by many critics and royal correspondents - has cost the UK taxpayers £226,000 (around $275k) in travel alone.
During the tour, protesters claimed that Prince William and Kate Middleton are 'not welcome' in Jamaica as protests erupted demanding that the Royals should pay slavery reparations because of the historic role played by the Royal Family when it comes to colonialism.
This led many critics to claim that the tour was a PR disaster and the whole tour reeked of 'colonialism' and was completely 'tone-deaf'. Prince William's speech at a dinner hosted by Governor-General Sir Cornelius Smith addressed these claims, but still, the trip was considered a disaster. The failure of this tour has perhaps added to the shock that this disastrous trip cost taxpayers nearly a quarter of a million pounds.
The cost of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge's trip to the Caribbean has been revealed alongside the cost of travel for the Royal Family as a whole.
£4.5 million of taxpayer money (through the Sovereign Grant) was spent by Royals traveling for official royal engagements between 2021 and 2022.
This £4.5 million includes the trip taken by Prince Charles to visit Barbados when the Queen was removed as Head of State and the country became a Republic. The Prince of Wales' charter flight and cost of travel of accompanying staff to mark this event cost £138,000.
£906,000 was also spent by royals on 179 official helicopter journeys during the year. Plus, £46,400 was spent by Her Majesty when she traveled on the royal train to Scotland. £45,200 was also spent by Prince William and Catherine in May 2021 when they also travelled to Scotland, but via charter flight and helicopter.
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