Royal newlyweds pump up prince’s cost to taxpayers

The cost of the Prince of Wales and his family to the taxpayer rose by more than 10% during the last financial year as the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge embarked on married life.

Charles’s accounts, released yesterday, show his income from grants-in- aid and Government departments rose from £1,962,000 to £2,194,000, an increase of £232,000 during 2011/12.

The figures cover the Duchess of Cambridge’s first full year as a royal but her cost to the taxpayer and to the prince – who funds much of her public work and official clothes – was described as “fairly marginal” compared with the overall total by a royal aide.

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