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| Public funds for Charles top £3m | Public funds for Charles top £3m |
| (40 minutes later) | |
| Taxpayers funded the work of the Prince of Wales to the tune of £3m last year - an annual rise of almost a quarter, according to Clarence House accounts. | |
| The main cost was a 48% rise in official travel by air and rail, which increased to £1.71m. | |
| He travelled more than 50,000 miles to attend 658 official engagements during his 60th birthday year. | |
| Charles's private income increased by just 1% to £16.4m during the last financial year. | Charles's private income increased by just 1% to £16.4m during the last financial year. |
| He also paid less tax, with his bill falling almost 10% from more than £3.4m to just under £3.1m. | He also paid less tax, with his bill falling almost 10% from more than £3.4m to just under £3.1m. |
| The prince's non-official expenditure fell by 23% to £1.7m, with the drop being attributed in part to his decision to holiday in the UK last year. | |
| Campaign group Republic - which is pressing for an elected head of state - has called on the government to stop funding his work. | |
| We're asking the government why they continue to subsidise this profit-making enterprise to the tune of over £2m a year Graham Smith, Republic | |
| But the prince's senior aide, Sir Michael Peat, said Charles had been mindful of the economic downturn. | |
| "It's a recession and we have to say that we've looked at all costs very carefully," he said. | |
| "We are by no means immune to it. We are always reviewing all costs the whole time." | |
| The annual review suggests the prince helped to raise £130m in support of his 20 core charities. | |
| A keen environmental campaigner, Prince Charles also presided over a 7% cut in carbon emissions at Clarence House during the year to April. | |
| Fossil fuel use was reduced by 15%, the report said. | |
| In the year to April, the surplus generated by the Duchy of Cornwall - the landed estate given to the heir to the throne - increased by only £185,000. | |
| This private income had risen by 7% during the previous year. | |
| Clarence House said Charles spent "well over half" of this £16.4m after-tax income in support of official and charitable activities. | |
| 'No burden' | |
| However, taxpayers supplement this work through government grant-in-aid payments, which fund independently-operated organisations. | |
| The last financial year saw these payments jump 23.5% from £2.45m to £3.03m, while Charles's official expenditure rose by nearly a fifth from to £10.45m to £12.5m. | The last financial year saw these payments jump 23.5% from £2.45m to £3.03m, while Charles's official expenditure rose by nearly a fifth from to £10.45m to £12.5m. |
| Author Ingrid Seward, who has written extensively about the Royal Family, told the BBC that Charles offered "value for money" and was "no burden" on the taxpayer. | |
| "When Prince Charles goes on foreign trips it's not [simply] because he wants to, it's because he's invited by foreign countries and it must be paid for because he's a great ambassador," she said. | |
| However, Republic spokesman Graham Smith said: "In the depths of a recession, Prince Charles is obviously quite capable of making a multi-million pound profit from the Duchy. | |
| "We're asking the government why they continue to subsidise this profit-making enterprise to the tune of over £2m a year." |