The Royal Family Member That Spends An Astounding Amount Of Money

Despite the British tabloids' tendency to blame Meghan Markle for just about everything (which is getting really old, by the way,) there's at least one specific title that cannot be dumped on her: the most expensive royal. According to the International Business Times, Prince Charles spent the largest amount of money from 2018-2019 on travel. The Prince of Wales apparently loves a good train ride, but the cost of those adds up, too.

Participating in royal excursions is expected from the famous U.K. family, given the countless engagements they participate in, but you'll be more than a little surprised when you see just how much the queen's son is spending on his trips. Wait a minute, who's actually footing the bill for such pricey travels anyway? Keep reading to learn more about the royal family's finances for trips abroad.

This royal family member is quite the globe-trotter. According to the Express, Prince Charles spent nearly half of the family's travel budget from April 1, 2018 through March 31, 2019. His own personal travel budget reportedly added up to £1.3 million. Joint airfare and rail costs for the heir to the throne and his wife, Camilla, totaled £1.33 million in that time period. When traveling, Charles apparently prefers to use the train, which reportedly costs about £20,000 per trip.

Of course, the train isn't always an option. Charles and Camilla's tour of the Caribbean and Cuba cost £417,000. As Newsweek reported, they were the first royals to visit Cuba for an official trip and traveled on a Royal Air Force Voyager military plane, while their staff used regular flights for the trip. A palace aide told the Express that there's a reason the Prince of Wales traveled so much: "His overseas travel was at the behest of the Foreign Office who realise he is a terrific ambassador for Britain." That pretty much means he's not going out of his way to travel just for the heck of it — his presence is being requested abroad.

How do Prince Charles' travels stack up to the rest of the royal family? By comparison, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's royal tour to New Zealand, Australia, Tonga, and Fiji cost £81,000, per Newsweek. Prince William's history-making trip to Jordan, Israel, and the West Bank reportedly cost about £74,000. That means Charles and Camilla's Caribbean/Cuba tour, which ran about £417,000, cost more than five times the amount of Harry and Meghan's trip.

According to the royal document cited by Newsweek, Queen Elizabeth's travels appear to be the cheapest. (Granted, the document only logs any travels that cost more than £15,000.) Most of the Queen's trips are between £16,000 and £21,000. Her most pricey excursion was reportedly a train ride with Markle to visit the Storyhouse theatre and Chester Town Hall in June 2018. That trip cost £29,714. Again, Prince Charles and Camila's aforementioned excursion to the Caribbean and Cuba cost 14 times that amount. Phew, that's a lot of money!

There's a lot of info to sort through when it comes to royal family finances, but according to Town and Country, royal visits are funded by British taxpayers through something called the Sovereign Grant, which is "a sum of money granted to the monarch annually for official duties." For 2018-2019, that amount was £82.2 million, which is the U.S. equivalent of about $104 million. Town and Country calculated that expense comes to £1.24 (or $1.58) per person in the U.K.

Speaking of taxpayers, Queen Elizabeth and Prince Charles are not required to pay income taxes, according to The Washington Post, but they choose to pay an amount equivalent to what their taxes would be. Prince Charles also gives money to Prince Harry and Prince William via his private estate, the Duchy of Cornwall, per The New York Times. He reportedly gave his sons and their families £4.9m in 2018. However, now that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex plan to step back from royal duties and "work to become financially independent," it's unclear how much financial support Charles will provide in the future.

Additionally, the royal family "generates at least £2 billion of annual incremental revenue to the British market," according to David Haigh, the CEO of a company called Brand Finance, who spoke to The New York Times. So while Prince Charles spends a mind-boggling amount on travel, he's still reportedly helping to generate a lot of revenue for the country. It's all about balance, right?