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The Prince of Wales - A letter from Paddy Harverson, Communications Secretary to The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall, to the Independent
letter from Paddy Harverson, Communications Secretary to The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall, to the Independent
4th July 2011
This is the text of a letter sent to the Independent by The Prince of Wales's Communications Secretary Paddy Harverson regarding misleading coverage of His Royal Highness's finances:
"Joan Smith's article "We are all in this together, but is Charles?" (30 June) and your news story of 29 June about the Prince of Wales's finances painted a misleading picture.
The Prince of Wales has 159 employees, of which the vast majority are either office staff who support the official duties and charitable work carried out by him, the Duchess of Cornwall, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry, or garden and estate staff working on his farm and gardens (the latter open to public visits which last year generated just under £500,000 for charity). Much attention is focused on his personal staff. As it happens, he has two butlers and two valets; he needs two of each because, obviously, people can't work every day of the year.
Last year the Prince and the Duchess together conducted 751 public engagements and official meetings, organised and overseen by his office. Almost 100 of those engagements were in support of our Armed Forces. During the year, Their Royal Highnesses visited 102 towns and cities in the UK, they hosted 127 official receptions, seminars, lunches and dinners, attended by almost 10,000 guests.
That staff also work in support of The Prince's Charities, the 20 organisations the Prince has set up and inspires to help others in areas of youth opportunity, the environment, education, the built environment and corporate social responsibility. With the help of the Prince and his office, those charities raised £123m last year.
The Prince meets the cost of almost all of this work – and all of his employees – out of his own pocket, using his private income from the Duchy of Cornwall. Because the Duchy has no debt – it is run in a conservative and sustainable fashion – there isn't a need to cut spending in the way that many organisations in the public and private sector are currently being forced to do.
As for his personal spending, which you note increased last year by 50 per cent to £2.5m, almost every penny of that was spent by the Prince on making additional donations to charities.
You also note that the Prince claims a large part of his spending against tax as a business expense. This is true and entirely proper. His taxes, which are audited by the Inland Revenue, rose last year by almost £1m to £4.4m.
Paddy Harverson
Communications Secretary to TRH The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall
letter from Paddy Harverson, Communications Secretary to The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall, to the Independent
4th July 2011
This is the text of a letter sent to the Independent by The Prince of Wales's Communications Secretary Paddy Harverson regarding misleading coverage of His Royal Highness's finances:
"Joan Smith's article "We are all in this together, but is Charles?" (30 June) and your news story of 29 June about the Prince of Wales's finances painted a misleading picture.
The Prince of Wales has 159 employees, of which the vast majority are either office staff who support the official duties and charitable work carried out by him, the Duchess of Cornwall, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry, or garden and estate staff working on his farm and gardens (the latter open to public visits which last year generated just under £500,000 for charity). Much attention is focused on his personal staff. As it happens, he has two butlers and two valets; he needs two of each because, obviously, people can't work every day of the year.
Last year the Prince and the Duchess together conducted 751 public engagements and official meetings, organised and overseen by his office. Almost 100 of those engagements were in support of our Armed Forces. During the year, Their Royal Highnesses visited 102 towns and cities in the UK, they hosted 127 official receptions, seminars, lunches and dinners, attended by almost 10,000 guests.
That staff also work in support of The Prince's Charities, the 20 organisations the Prince has set up and inspires to help others in areas of youth opportunity, the environment, education, the built environment and corporate social responsibility. With the help of the Prince and his office, those charities raised £123m last year.
The Prince meets the cost of almost all of this work – and all of his employees – out of his own pocket, using his private income from the Duchy of Cornwall. Because the Duchy has no debt – it is run in a conservative and sustainable fashion – there isn't a need to cut spending in the way that many organisations in the public and private sector are currently being forced to do.
As for his personal spending, which you note increased last year by 50 per cent to £2.5m, almost every penny of that was spent by the Prince on making additional donations to charities.
You also note that the Prince claims a large part of his spending against tax as a business expense. This is true and entirely proper. His taxes, which are audited by the Inland Revenue, rose last year by almost £1m to £4.4m.
Paddy Harverson
Communications Secretary to TRH The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall