Queen's Cost to Taxpayers Revealed

The true cost of the royal family to the taxpayer has been revealed by new public accounts.

Annual figures for the 2007/08 financial year have been released by the Queen, and show that the royals cost each UK taxpayer around 66p in total over the 12 months. This is a small rise over the previous year, when the family cost 62p.

The overall cost of the monarchy's day-to-day needs comes to a total of £40 million. Representatives of the royal family say that this represents a 3.1 per cent decline in real terms over the past seven years.

However, this figure does not include the family's security bill - which comes to an estimated £100 million a year. This is due to concerns that making an exact royal protection bill public might provide assistance to terrorists, it was claimed.

Explaining the rise in overseas trips made by members of the royal family that was revealed in the new report, keeper of the privy purse Sir Alan Reid said: "Expenditure on royal travel increased in response to the number of overseas visits undertaken at the request of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and UK Trade and Investment."

Other contributory factors to the royal tax burden include the maintenance of the monarchy's official residences, including Balmoral, Sandringham and Buckingham Palace.