Brits happy Canada is picking up tab for royal visits

The Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall’s tour of Canada next month won’t represent the financial burden the Prince’s recent overseas jaunts to South America and the Far East turned out to be. That’s because, as a Commonwealth country, Canada picks up most of the tab. It was announced today that Charles and Camilla will tour 12 Canadian cities from November 2 to 12. A Canadian military Airbus will fly the Prince of Wales’s party to and from Canada and transport them around the country. (Royal sources were keen to point out that the Airbus will not be travelling empty but will be put to use by the Canadian military for the other legs of the two transatlantic flights.) The Queen and Prince Philip’s visit next year will be similarly subsidized. Not that the British taxpayer is completely off the hook: the cost of the royals’ protection officers will be met by Scotland Yard.

The Times