Fit for a King: The Untold Millions Behind Charles and Camilla’s Grandest Getaways

The Royal Household's new Sovereign Grant Report has lifted the lid on the most costly royal travels of the year, showing a spectacular spike in both the number and price of official royal travel by King Charles and Queen Camilla.

 

Key Highlights:

 

Record-Breaking Tour: The most expensive royal visit was the 11-day tour of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Samoa and Australia by the King and Queen in October 2024. The tour cost a record £400,535, the most expensive royal event of the year by far. Interestingly, as he was King of Australia, the Australian government subsidized half the flight cost.

 

More Travel Activity: From last year through to March 2025, the royal family made 43 visits at a minimum cost of £17,000 per trip, compared to 27 in the year before. King Charles personally made 13 of them, eight of which were with Queen Camilla.

 

Other Costly Activities: The second most expensive trip was a three-day trip to Belfast during March 2025, which cost £80,139. Prince William's trip to Estonia for military activities took the third position at £55,846.

 

Domestic and International Outreach: The royals undertook more than 1,900 public commitments, such as World War II anniversary ceremonies in France and Poland to events across the UK and Europe.

 

Total Travel Bill: The royal family's travel bill for the year amounted to £2,743,846, both because of the rise in official engagements and the publicity of recent high-profile tours.

 

The report refers to the new international exposure of the monarchy and the enormous expense of sustaining royal diplomacy and tradition.

 

Sources: The Independent, GB News, The News