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Royal spending rose by 5 per cent to 107.5 million pounds ($202.2 million) , with staff costs rising significantly.
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The report said the proportion of ethnic minority employees had stayed at 9.7 per cent, missing its target of reaching 10 per cent by the end of 2022. It has set a new target of 14 per cent by 2025. Around 18 per cent of the population of England and Wales belong to an ethnic group, according to government data.
“We are determined to accelerate progress in this area,” Stevens said.
He said gas and heating emissions had fallen 19 per cent, partly driven by the king having the thermostats turned down, and a 43 per cent decrease in travel emissions.
Critics of the royals said the monarchy cost far more than the report suggested, and said Charles’ son and heir Prince William, who received 6 million pounds ($11.5 million) from his inherited Duchy of Cornwall estate, should have published full details of his annual accounts.
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“The royals have long hidden their true cost, which we have worked out to be at least 345 million pounds. That’s enough to pay for 13,000 new nurses or teachers,” said Graham Smith, chief executive of campaign group Republic.
Stevens also disclosed that Charles’ younger son Prince Harry and his wife Meghan had vacated their Frogmore Cottage home on the Windsor Castle estate and had paid back all taxpayer-funded spending on the property, “leaving the Crown with a greatly enhanced asset”.
He declined to comment on Prince Andrew’s use of Royal Lodge, the property within the Windsor estate which newspapers have said the king would like his younger brother to vacate.
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