The image of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge stepping onto a financial flight contrasted incredibly with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s travel this summer season. Prince William and Kate’s reasonably-priced hop on Flybe from Norwich to Aberdeen compared unfavorably by way of critics to Prince Harry and Meghan’s trips via non-public jet. But who decides on how the Royal Family travels? And how much do they spend getting about?
Official v unofficial
While the charges of authentic royal journeys are published online in annual reviews, the quantity the royals spend on an unofficial journey isn’t always. Spending on a legitimate trip paid for by taxpayers became £2.7m in normal remaining years. Of journeys costing greater than £15,000, Prince Charles spent the most. Tradition dictates that what the royals spend of their own time is as much as them, and so we simplest understand what receives pronounced, often using danger.
Kensington Palace might now not touch upon the Cambridges’ travel cost once they have been snapped boarding their financial flight this week. Reports said tickets priced as little as £ seventy-three. Meanwhile, Sir Elton John said he lent his non-public jet to Prince Harry and Meghan to ensure their privateness on a current go to his French estate. Phil Dampier, who has written numerous books about the royals, said he expects that gifts of flights – that could overall tens of heaps of kilos – might also want to be disclosed in the future. “I assume what’s going to have to happen in destiny is that any flights were given to them by way of the likes of Elton John or any benefactors they may claim,” he said.
Helicopters are preferred
When journeying professionally, the royals employ chartered helicopters much more than private jets. Figures published with the aid of the royal family confirmed that 207 trip aircraft were made in the closing year, compared with fifty-six flights on mainly chartered planes. The sizable majority of the helicopter trips had been brief hops and valued less than £15,000 each, the debts showed. However, the royals almost solely use chartered planes while touring overseas. Among the greater high-priced trips taken into the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall’s legit go to the Caribbean Islands and Cuba aboard RAF Voyager, which fees £416,576.
Costs have plummeted
Despite the excessive fees, the royal tour still prices loads less than it did some a long time ago. According to the National Audit Office (NAO), authentic royal travel charges declined by using 76% in actual phrases between 1991-2 and 2011-12. Prince Harry and private jets: What’s the carbon footprint?
Elton defends Harry and Meghan over private jets.
The NAO stated that this became a problem because the household switched from using RAF helicopters to civilian carriers and took fewer flights on extra costly planes. The Sovereign Grant pays for the official royal tour, which the taxpayer funds. The furnishing- which can pay for the Queen’s family personnel and the preservation of palaces – is expected to be £82.4m overall. In the last 12 months, the money spent on reliable royal travel (£2.7m) was the same as in the preceding years. In 1997-98, the equivalent parent became £17.3m.
It’s now not all approximately cash.
The choice to constitution a unique plane or fly on a business flight is often taken by the senior royal body of workers in conjunction with authorities, in line with a former head of royal protection. Dai Davies, who led palace police in the Nineteen Nineties, told the BBC: “Convenience in phrases of the routes, the range of the visits, the timings, and in a few elements of the sector the need for security [are all considered].”
