Charles’s Purse Comes Under Scrutiny
After the endless rows over MPs taking advantage of their expense accounts, it seems that the British people are in the mood for taking public officials to task over their spending. Bad news for the Prince of Wales who has had his annual finance report published today. The report reveals that the Prince received almost £3m from the taxpayer with a rise of almost a quarter. The official reason is that the Prince undertook more foreign visits and completed the equivalent to 2 engagements a day (a total of 658) in his 60th birthday year but as usual the Republican groups are keen to stick the knife in. They say that as long as the Duchy of Cornwall makes a profit, there should be no government input. His Royal Highness’s private income rose by 1% (not much really, only £16.4m) but he also paid less tax which is likely to raise questions with the public.
Clarence House has been keen to point out that his carbon footprint was slashed by 7% as part of an environmental economy drive at Clarence House and Highgrove and that the Prince holidayed in the UK, bringing his out-costs down even furthur and that out of his private income, “well over half” was spent supporting his charities and official duties. Ingrid Seward has said that “the Prince is value for money” but as the UK fights a recession, this report may be harder to defend than previous ones. The annual finance report on the Civil List and Royal expenditure will probably be all the more anticipated after this mini-report into the Wales Household and I’m sure the Royals are now slightly worried that they may be the new public enemy number one when it comes to taxpayer’s money. Meanwhile, the Prince and the Duchess continue their tour of Wales.
