Anger over princely sum of Charles' spending

LONDON - Prince Charles faced renewed calls yesterday to make a full disclosure of his financial accounts after it emerged that his public costs had risen by nearly a quarter in the last year while his tax bill had fallen.

State subsidies for the Prince of Wales jumped from £2.45 million ($6.3 million) to £3.03 million in the past financial year, and his private income increased to £16.4 million.

Charles spent more, earned more and employed more staff last year, but managed to cut his tax bill by nearly 10 per cent, the official figures showed. There is no official figure for the estimated £2 million it costs to pay for Charles and Camilla's security.

Anti-monarchy campaign group Republic spokesman Graham Smith said it was time that the Government scrapped state subsidies for the couple.

"This is a double-whammy for the taxpayer - less tax and more subsidies while the Government is having to make swingeing cuts to public services.

"After months of public anger over MPs' expenses, it is now time for Charles to come clean. He appears to claim butlers and personal dressers as business costs, thereby saving him a small fortune in tax.

"The taxpayer is being asked to subsidise the prince through multi-million-pound grants - we deserve to know the details of his expense claims that he is using to reduce his tax bill."

A spokesman for the prince said annual accounts showed that the increase in the public cost of Prince Charles was because of a "busier than ever" year for him and the Duchess of Cornwall in public engagements on behalf of the Government.

The review shows that, in the Prince's 60th year, he and the Duchess undertook 658 joint and solo official engagements, hosted more than 9000 people at events at royal residences, and travelled more than 80,000km in the course of their work on behalf of the country.

The accounts also showed that Charles' official expenditure rose by nearly a fifth from £10.45 million to £12.5 million.

But much of his income was written off against tax as business costs. His tax bill - the Prince pays 40 per cent tax on his income - went down from £3.429 million to £3.093 million.

He spent £65,000 on his gardens, more than £500,000 on official entertaining and more £200,000 on stationery. He also set aside £2000 more for tending to plants and the grounds of residences than in the previous financial year.

His utility bills jumped almost a third, from £139,000 to £182,000.

Other details of official costs, which the Prince pays from his personal Duchy of Cornwall income, showed he spent £66,000 on donations and gifts, £347,000 on computer systems and £171,000 on legal and other professional fees. Stationery and office equipment costs rose 19 per cent from £183,000 to £218,000.

The rise came in the year that Princes William and Harry set up their own joint household in St James's Palace with new letterheads.

Charles' official entertaining and reception costs went up £111,000 from £416,000 to £527,000. His housekeeping and office cleaning bill fell by £27,000 to £105,000. Costs for residences and offices not paid for by Grant-in-Aid rose by more than £250,000 from £419,000 to £703,000.

The Prince helped to cut his personal costs last year by staying in Britain for his holidays. There was no skiing trip either. The prince last went to the slopes privately two years ago.

The decision to stay in Britain helped Charles' non-official expenditure fall by more than £250,000 from £2,217,000 to £1,710,000 - a drop of 23 per cent.

- INDEPENDENT