Queen spent £1.4million on food last year

On a typical Buckingham Palace party menu, a bottle of Gusbourne 2007 would cost Her Majesty up to £60 per bottle. Photo / Getty Images

The Queen spent £1.4 million on entertaining guests at Buckingham Palace in the last year.

According to the Sovereign Grant annual report, the Queen received a £42 million allowance this year - and figures reveal she spent some £250,000 of it on wine and spirits.

Her Majesty spends around a third of the year entertaining 96,000 guests, hosting garden parties, receptions, investitures and other events at her official home.

The table is arranged for a State Banquet, part of the Summer Opening exhibition at Buckingham Palace. Photo / Getty Images

The revelation comes amid a controversial ten-year refit was announced for Buckingham Palace, at a cost of £369 million funded by public money.

On a typical Buckingham Palace party menu, a bottle of Gusbourne 2007 would cost Her Majesty up to £60 per bottle.

The Queen's favourite champagne, Pol Roger, can also sell for up to £400 per bottle.

The bill for the Buckingham Palace work, the biggest refurbishment undertaken at her official London residence since before the Second World War, will be met by taxpayers via the Sovereign Grant - the annual fee paid by the Government to the monarch - with a third of the cash set aside for maintaining Royal palaces.

The Sovereign Grant is taken from the revenues generated by the Crown Estate, a portfolio of properties and investments formerly owned by the monarch but now owned by the Government.

This year's grant totalled £42million and that figure is expected to rise by 66 per cent each year.

Queen Elizabeth II, accompanied by Sir Hugh Roberts in the Ballroom which has been set out so that visitors can experience a State Banquet. Photo / Getty Images

Figures from Business Insider also show £19.5 million from the grant paid for 431 staff members.

Of the total for 2015-16, over £16 million was spent on the upkeep of royal palaces and other buildings, while £4 million went towards the Royal Family's travel costs.
The Queen's allowance for the year was up some £4.1 million on the previous period due to property maintenance.