Last year’s brief Royal visit by the Charles and Camilla, then the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall, cost taxpayers $2 million dollars, newly released documents reveal.
Listed in cost breakdowns that accompanied responses to order-paper questions submitted by Bloc Québécois MP Julie Vignola, expenses for the then Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall’s May 17 to 19, 2022 tour of St. John’s, Ottawa and Yellowknife incurred $1.1 million in protection costs by the RCMP, including $556,299 in travel, overtime and expenses to protect the future King and Queen Consort, as well as a total of $21,735 in protection details for Governor General Mary Simon.
The tour was held to commemorate Queen Eizabeth’s Platinum Jubilee.
The two Royals flew to Canada aboard an RCAF CC150 Polaris VIP transport plane, the same jet used by the prime minister and Governor General for overseas flights or transporting large delegations.
Official itineraries list the royal couple kicking off their tour with an official welcome in St. John’s on May 17, followed by an afternoon of official visits before departing for Ottawa.
On May 18, they laid a wreath at the National War Memorial, followed by official visits, a performance by the RCMP Musical Ride, and sit-downs with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the Governor General at Rideau Hall.
After an evening reception at Rideau Hall, the couple departed for Yellowknife the next morning, where they visited local First Nations communities and marked the 75th anniversary of the Canadian Rangers. Following another Platinum Jubilee celebration, they departed for home.
Total costs incurred by the Royal Canadian Air Force for flying the royal couple and a 53-person entourage from London to St. John’s, Ottawa and Yellowknife came to just over $417,000. That includes $245,129.43 in fuel and air crew transportation, $99,332.60 in in-flight meals — consisting of 124 breakfasts, 297 lunches and 345 dinners — $59,637 in crew lodging, and $62,782.52 in flight-handling, communications and landing fees.
Ahead of the actual tour, staff from the Department of Canadian Heritage embarked on three dress rehearsals and site visits, costing $197,301.88 in airfare, hotel and expenses.
The first site visit took 13 Canadian Heritage managers and staffers to St. John’s, Ottawa and the Northwest Territories from March 14 to 19, a five-day, $56,584.49 excursion attended by the department director, local managers, program and logistics officers, and media relations staff.
Of that total, $37,703.85 was spent on airfare, and $7,860 for hotel rooms in St. John’s and Yellowknife.
An April 5-9 dry run accompanied by U.K. security personnel cost taxpayers $119,167.42, attended by an entourage of 24 people including senior Heritage Canada managers, finance, programming and logistics officers and communications staff. They were joined by six members of the Prince and Duchess’s personal staff and two British protection officers from the Metropolitan Police.
That dry run rang up $87,567.20 in transportation costs and $17,082.48 in hotel rooms in Ottawa and Yellowknife.
Fifty-five passengers were aboard the RCAF Polaris for the royal tour itself. Accompanying the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall were 21 senior Heritage Canada staffers, including the department’s assistant deputy minister, director-general and director, staff and contracted official photographers; two Privy Council staffers; 19 members of the royal entourage, including private secretaries, communications and media staff, butlers, dressers, and stylists; and 11 members of Metropolitan Police’s royal protection office.
Ground transportation for the tour itself cost $23,586.62, while lodging for two nights in Ottawa cost $59,432.13.
Members of the entourage stayed at a number of residences and hotels while in Ottawa, including Rideau Hall, the official government state guest house at 7 Rideau Gate, and a number of Ottawa hotels, including the Alt Hotel, Château Laurier, and the Lord Elgin.
Questions from National Post to the Department of Canadian Heritage weren’t answered by press time. Franco Terrazzano, federal director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, said there’s little excuse for the event to cost so much.
“The government couldn’t figure out a way to host a two-day event for less than $2 million?” he said. “The feds need to learn how to do things without breaking the bank.”
Vignola, who is also the Bloc Québécois’ government operations critic, said the expenses incurred for the royal visit bolster her party’s position of cutting ties with the Crown.
“The staggering expenses incurred by the visit of the British Royal Family in May 2022 prove once again that our links with the British Monarchy should be relegated to the past,” she said in a statement. “It is insane that Quebecers and Canadians pay the costs of visiting foreign monarchs who, let us remember, cost us more than $67 million a year.”