Is the Royal Family value for money? Report reveals £86m of taxpayer funds spent on monarchy

The Royal Household is not immune to the cost of living pressures affecting the population, and it was forced to dip into reserve funds to ensure the institution could function.

The King even turned down the thermostat - setting occupied rooms in Buckingham Palace to 19 degrees Celsius this winter - in a bid to save the pennies.

It appears King Charles was sympathetic to his staff, granting them a pay rise of about 5-6 per cent, to ease the burden of rising bills.

This did mean; however, payroll costs were one of the biggest annual increases of any expenditure during 2022-23.

Striking public sector workers who seek better pay and conditions might look on with envy, accusing the government of being less caring than the Head of State.

The King and members of the Royal Family will inevitably draw criticism by spending more than a million pounds on helicopter flights.

Anti-monarchists have branded the institution "hypocritical", citing the King's environmental passions contradicting the gas-guzzling choppers.

A palace source pointed out that, logistically, it would be impossible to carry out the 2,700 official engagements across the country and overseas using other modes of transport.

The Royal Family have made concessions when it comes to travel arrangements, such as The Prince and Princess of Wales choosing to fly commercially to Boston for Prince William's Earthshot Prize last year, and the overall travel expenditure was down by roughly 13 per cent.

Satisfying the anti-monarchist agenda, however, is unlikely. Republic Chief Executive, Graham Smith, said: "The royals have long hidden their true cost, which we have worked out to be at least £345m. That's enough to pay for 13,000 new nurses and teachers".

"Our figure of £345m is far more accurate than the official report, when we factor in costs to local councils, local police forces, the revenue of the two Duchies and security".

2022 - 2023 was an "unprecedented" financial year for the Royal Family because millions of pounds were spent on major royal events.

The late Queen's Platinum Jubilee and Her Late Majesty's funeral cost a combined £2.3 million of Sovereign Grant funding, but the cost of the Coronation will not be included until next year's report.

Extra taxpayers' money will have also been spent by government departments.

But Sir Michael Stevens, Keeper of the Privy Purse, said the past year had been "a year of grief, change and celebration, the like of which our nation has not witnessed for seven decades".

Supporters of the monarchy will see these one-off payments as necessary for hugely important events of national significance. Others will see them as extravagant in a cost-of-living crisis.

Palace officials confirmed The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have left Frogmore Cottage, having paid back the £2.4m of taxpayers' money to refurbish the property.

Buckingham Palace refused to be drawn on speculation, however, on who would be the new tenants. The King reportedly has not yet persuaded his brother, Prince Andrew, to leave Royal Lodge and downsize to Frogmore Cottage instead.

Frogmore Cottage is one of several royal residences that now sit empty, which could be uncomfortable for Prince William who unveiled his project to tackle homelessness earlier this week.

His critics have questioned whether the future King, who lives in three properties himself, is the right man to spearhead an end to homelessness.

Much louder voices, however, pointed out the issue wouldn't have been amplified by the media without Prince William's fame on the front pages.

It appears Buckingham Palace has some catching up to do, when it comes to diversity of its staff. The palace missed its target of 10 per cent for ethnic minorities by the end of 2022. The figure was 9.7 per cent.

A spokesperson for Buckingham Palace said the figures were "not where we'd like to be [but we are] committed to making progress in the area".

In contrast, Prince William and Princess Catherine's household, Kensington Palace, has 16.3 per cent of its staff from an ethnic minority background.

18 per cent of the UK population is from an ethnic minority background, according to 2021 Census data.

Buckingham Palace has set a new target of 14 per cent by 2025.

Three years ago, we wouldn't even be talking about diversity statistics.

But Prince Harry and Meghan's interview with Oprah Winfrey in 2021 changed all that when the Duchess of Sussex accused an unnamed member of the Royal Family of unconscious bias.

In the late Queen's words: "recollections may vary".

It appears the Royal Household has some way to go to match the UK Census data on diversity, but senior household staff from an ethnic minority background has increased to 12 per cent this year.

Increasing diversity could be a way for Buckingham Palace to show they are not out of touch with the British people and decreases the risk of unconscious bias accusations.

Supporters of the monarchy insist the institution is value for money, bringing far more into the UK economy and culture than it takes out.

Opinion polls continue to show a majority of Brits back the Royal Family which suggests, for now, they are prepared to pay the price.

However, persuading those who are sceptical about the benefits remains a big challenge for the monarchy - particularly as most households continue to grapple with the rising cost of living.