The Cambridges’ Caribbean Flop Tour cost the British taxpayers $275K

Hey, remember the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s Caribbean Flop Tour? William and Kate traveled to Belize, Jamaica and The Bahamas back in March, and the tour was a complete disaster from start to finish. William and Kate thought they were going to show up in their expensive couture, pretend to be keen, cosplay Edwardian colonialists and then enjoy a nice beach vacation, all on the taxpayer’s dime. It blew up in their faces spectacularly. Now the kicker: the Flop Tour was the most expensive royal tour from the Windsors in years.

New details about Kate Middleton and Prince William’s controversial tour of the Caribbean are being revealed. According to a palace report on Wednesday, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s trip in March cost the British taxpayer $275,000.

William and Kate’s tour of Belize, Jamaica and The Bahamas was the most expensive tour by the royal family in the recent financial year, which just came to a close. While the tour was taken in honor of William’s grandmother Queen Elizabeth’s Platinum Jubilee, the couple encountered mounting tensions in the Caribbean nations where the Queen remains head of state. The tour saw protests over colonialism and calls for dropping the Queen as head of state.

The second most expensive foreign visit was by Prince Charles, who traveled to Barbados last November at a cost of cost $168,00. The heir to the throne was on hand for Barbados’ transition ceremony as they removed Queen Elizabeth as head of state and swore in the island country’s first president.

The Queen’s use of the Royal Train (which she took to Scotland this week) to Cornwall to host G7 political leaders last June cost $38,400. The report only includes the journeys costing more than $18,100.

There were also 179 helicopter flights by members of the royal family (totaling $1.1 million) and 24 charter flights (costing $341,000).

[From People]

A few things… why did Charles’s Barbados trip cost so much? He flew into Barbados and stayed, at most, two days. He was basically only there to attend the ceremony formalizing Barbados’ independence from the British crown. As for the cost of the Flop Tour… the figure of $275,000 is only what it cost the “British taxpayer.” William and Kate’s tour also incurred costs in Belize, Jamaica and the Bahamas, costs which were picked up by the taxpayers in those countries. Security costs, probably hotels, and all of those elegant colonialist receptions. I also feel pretty strongly that a big chunk of the cost was just Kate’s wardrobe. She bought a lot of new clothes for the Flop Tour. Imagine spending that much money just to get fired live on camera in the prime minister’s office. Don’t worry though, Will and Kate also had time to scuba dive on their taxpayer-funded vacation. They even brought along a professional videographer to document it!

Photos courtesy of Instar, Backgrid.

Source: Read Full Article