The first full sight of the dress as Meghan arrives at Windsor Chapel. Video / AP
Meghan Markle's legal team has claimed her royal wedding raised an astonishing $1.9 billion (£1 billion) in tourist revenue.
Benefits linked to the ceremony in May 2018 "far outweighed" the cost of policing it, they insisted.
Describing the duchess as a "working member of the Royal Family" who was "to some (relatively nominal) extent publicly funded", they said her wedding to Prince Harry was "personally financed by HRH The Prince of Wales".
The groom's father paid for the church service, flowers and reception. However, a further $61 million (£32 million) – including the security bill, never confirmed but estimated at $58 million (£30million) – came from UK taxpayers.
The duchess's lawyers said: "Any public costs incurred for the wedding were solely for security and crowd control to protect members of the public, as deemed necessary by Thames Valley Police and the Metropolitan Police.
Meghan's lawyers claim the boost to UK tourism far outweighed the cost of her wedding. Photo / Getty Images
"This contribution of public funds towards crowd security was far outweighed by the tourism revenue of over one billion pounds sterling that was generated from the royal wedding of The Duke and Duchess of Sussex which went directly into the public purse."
The £1 billion figure was first mentioned by consultants Brand Finance days before the wedding. However, it estimated a boost to UK tourism of just £300 million, claiming the total could only reach £1 billion if other sectors, such as retail and fashion, were included.
The firm forecast an overall boost to the economy of £1.05 billion, which also included the effect of positive PR worth $577 million (£300million) $481 million (£250million) for retail and restaurants, $288 million (£150million) for the fashion industry and $96 million (£50million) on merchandise.
Weddings website Bridebook estimated that Meghan's dress and the ceremony's flowers, food and drink came in at nearly $1.9 million (£1million). Using 20 trumpets to announce the event is said to have cost $173,000 (£90,000) while the glass marquee for the evening reception was put at $577,000 (£300,000). A lemon elderflower wedding cake from Violet Bakery in east London was estimated at $96,000 (£50,000).
Costs footed by taxpayers include over £1million for "stewarding, crowd control barriers, big screens [and] waste disposal".
