揭秘谁为英国皇室埋单
It's been a busy year for the British royalfamily. The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall alone covered almost 48,000 miles to undertake 804 official engagementsbetween April 2011 and the end of March this year. So who pays the bills? Prince Charles' office at Clarence House released its annual review Friday, sheddinglight on how money is spent on the couple, as well as Princes William and Harry and, of course, the newest addition to the family, Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge。 As the queen's eldest son, Charles, Prince of Wales, is mostly funded by the Duchy of Cornwall, a private estate consisting of more than 200 square miles of agricultural, commercial and residentialland in southwest England。 In the 2011-12 fiscal year, the prince's private income from the duchy rose by 3% to slightly more than $28.5 million. He received an additional $3.42 million in public funding from Parliamentand government departments, a year-on-year increase of 11.8%。 With more private and public income, Prince Charles' household spending increased by 4.1% to $15.3 million, and 135 full-time staff members received a pay raise of 3%。 So what is the expense of the royal family's newest member? "It's actually quite minimal," said Prince Charles' communications secretary。 A royal aideadded that it would be "rather impolite" to disclosehow much money had been spent on the dresses that hit front pages of newspapers around the world every time Catherine steps out in public. What we do know, though, is that Prince Charles pays for his daughter-in-law'soutfitsfor official engagements。 Anti-monarchygroups have criticized the royal family for using public money to travel. "Prince Charles gives little back to the country yet has a held sense of entitlementwhen it comes to accessing public funds," Graham Smith said Friday. "We believe time is long overdue that the government brought royal spending under proper control." However, Prince Charles' communications secretary maintains: "Members of the royal family do a huge amount of work. ... We really feel it's fantastic value for money. As it happens, 90% of it is Prince Charles' own income, so it's not coming from central government coffers." Royal aides championthe prince's group of 16 charities as the greatest example of the royal family giving back to the public. Between April 2011 and the end of March this year, the Prince of Wales directly or indirectly raised more than $200 million for his charities, which support young people, the environment and enterprise。 After last year's royal wedding and the recent Diamond Jubileecelebrations,pollshave showed that the British royal family is as popular as ever. Riding high on that wave is the household of the Prince of Wales, as exemplifiedby the 76,825 letters received from the public in 2011-12. That is more than double the mail from the previous year。 |