Monarchy

The Royal Household's official spending rose by 5% Last Year , to £107. 5m, while its funding from taxpayers remained at £86. 3m, annual accounts have revealed.

This meant drawing on reserves for what royal officials called an " exceptional period of transition" following Elizabeth Ii 's death.

It was also confirmed The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have vacated Frogmore Cottage , in Windsor, Berkshire.

The accounts also show royal heating is kept at 19C - to cut energy use.

To help save The Planet as well as bills, the accounts report a " concerted effort" by staff in royal residences to set The Winter heating to 19C, while any Empty Rooms were kept at 16C.

The running costs of The Monarchy - Such as for official visits and residences - are funded by the " Sovereign Grant" currently calculated as being 25% of the profits of the Crown Estate .

The annual accounts for 2022-23 show this funding was £86. 3m, the same as the previous Year .

But spending was almost £21m higher than the Sovereign Grant, with palace officials attributing The Extra costs to:

The 10-Year £369m project to repair Buckingham Palace had £34. 5m allocated this Year .

" Virtually no-one" was living in The Palace , royal officials said, although staff might stay there on a temporary basis for events.

But The King and Queen Camilla planned To Live there once building work was complete, in a few years from now.

The officials gave no further details of plans for Frogmore Cottage .

The Duke of York remains in Royal Lodge , in Windsor, but they would not comment on his leasing arrangements.

On average, about 500 Royal Household staff were being paid by the Sovereign Grant during the Year - and there were questions about efforts to increase diversity, with the proportion belonging to Ethnic Minorities , 9. 7%, showing no change since Last Year .

Royal staff received training under a " diversity and inclusion strategy" with concerns having been raised after black British charity founder Ngozi Fulani faced repeated questions about where she was " really from" at a Buckingham Palace reception.

The Public funding also covers the cost of official royal travel and visits, which included:

But most of the visits were much more low-key, with:

Paying visitors to royal residences helped to offset some of the costs, with £9. 8m in income earned - Still less than half the pre-Covid levels.

The Queen 's death, last September, saw The Palace receiving an unprecedented level of correspondence, including messages of condolence, with 183,000 items arriving in The Post .

In separate accounts, the Duchy of Cornwall reported profits of about £24m, in a transitional Year that saw the new Prince of Wales replacing his father as the recipient.

Keeper of the Privy Purse Sir Michael Stevens said the annual finances covered an unprecedented " Year of grief, change and celebration".

As well as events including the Platinum Jubilee, The Queen 's death and The King 's accession, He Said , The Royal Household " has not been immune to The Impacts of the joint challenges of the pandemic and inflationary pressures, which have resulted in a flat Sovereign Grant".

But anti-Monarchy group Republic said The Royals were increasing their spending while " public services are being squeezed".

Income from the duchies of Cornwall and Lancaster should go to The State , it says, while additional costs Such as policing are not included in the annual accounts.

" The Royals have long hidden their true cost, which we have worked out to be at least £345m, " Republic chief executive Graham Smith said. " That's enough to pay for 13,000 new nurses or teachers. "

Read the latest from Bbc News royal correspondent Sean Coughlan -

Source of news: bbc.com