King and Queen's visit to Samoa tops list of most expensive royal trips

North Wales Chronicle

01-07-2025

There are 43 separate journeys by royal family members listed in the official report for 2024/25 where travel costs were at least £17,000, up from 27 in 2023/24.
Some 13 of these involved the King, an increase from eight in the previous year.
These included the most expensive trip during the period, the 11-day visit by Charles and the Queen to the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Samoa in October 2024, which included engagements in Australia, and which had travel costs totalling £400,535.
Charles is King of Australia and the country's government funded half of the flight costs during this major overseas trip.
After attending the Commonwealth leaders' summit the King and Queen made a much reported trip to a luxury wellness retreat in Bengaluru in India, which was paid for privately.
The King was also involved in the second most expensive trip on the list, a three-day visit with the Queen to Northern Ireland in March 2025 (£80,139).
The third most expensive trip was a visit by the Prince of Wales to Estonia in March 2025, the cost of which included two earlier journeys by staff for planning purposes, and which added up to £55,846 in total.
Completing the top five are a two-day trip by the King on the royal train in February 2025 to Staffordshire, to visit the JCB factory in Rocester and the Tower Brewery in Burton upon Trent, which cost £44,822; and a two-day trip by the Duke of Edinburgh to Estonia in January 2025 to visit the Royal Dragoon Guards while on a military operation, which cost £39,791.
Of the 13 trips involving the King that appear on the list, eight were undertaken with the Queen and five by himself.
In addition to the trips already mentioned, the King's other costs were:
– A charter flight with the Queen between royal residences in April 2024 (£21,184);
– A two-day trip on the royal train to Crewe in May 2024 (£33,147);
– A two-day visit with the Queen to northern France in June 2024 for the D-Day 80th anniversary commemorations (£29,890);
– A two-day visit with the Queen to the Channel Islands in July 2024 (£28,872);
– A charter flight between royal residences in July 2024 (£22,529);
– A charter flight with the Queen between royal residences in September 2024 (£20,113);
– A second charter flight with the Queen between royal residences in September 2024 (£19,956);
– A charter flight between royal residences in October 2024 (£20,619);
– A one-day visit to Poland in January 2025 to attend events marking the 80th anniversary of the Holocaust, including a separate visit by staff in December 2024 for planning purposes (£30,232);
– And a one-day visit by plane with the Queen to Middlesbrough in February 2025 (£18,394).
There are no solo visits by the Queen on the list.
Aside from the royal visits to Samoa/Australia, Estonia, Poland and northern France, the only other journeys outside the UK to feature on the list are:
– A two-day trip by the Duchess of Edinburgh to Italy in May 2024 to attend military remembrance events (£32,380);
– A one-day visit by the Prince of Wales to northern France in June 2024 as part of the D-Day commemorations (£25,696);
– A two-day visit by the Princess Royal to the Netherlands in September 2024 for events commemorating the Second World War (£17,327);
– A nine-day visit to Nepal by the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh in February 2025 (£26,028);
– A three-day visit to Dresden by the Duke of Kent in February 2025 (£22,332);
– And a return flight by the Princess Royal from a meeting of the International Olympics Committee in Kalamata in Greece in March 2025 (£21,440).
Aside from the 13 trips on the list that involved either the King or the King and the Queen, 11 were undertaken by the Princess Royal; five by the Duke of Edinburgh; four by the Prince of Wales; three by the Duchess of Edinburgh; three by both the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh; two by the Duke of Kent; one by the Duchess of Gloucester; and one by the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester.