Huge royal tour bill Aussie taxpayers don’t want to pay

Two thirds of Australians believe taxpayers should not have to fund King Charles III and Queen Camilla’s upcoming tour of Australia, according to an exclusive nine.com.au poll.
A staggering 66 per cent of the 539 Aussies who responded to the poll said the royals should not rely on taxpayer dollars to fund their planned visit in October, which will be their first since the King was crowned in 2023.
When asked why they felt that way, respondents didn’t hold back.
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“The Monarchy have enough riches to fund their own trip, if they want to come. We shouldn’t have to pay anything for them to visit us,” one wrote.
Another said, “With the rising cost of living, money would be well-spent on helping Australians. Charles and Camilla have so much already and if they wanted to travel to Australia, they should fund their trip.”
Some took issue with the idea of Australian taxpayers being expected to fund a royal “holiday”, however the King and Queen’s visit is considered a working tour.
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The tour will last five days, from October 18 to 23, and will see the royal couple visit key locations across New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory.
But even brief royal tours can cost taxpayers a pretty penny.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s 16-day tour in 2018 cost an estimated $1 million; Prince William and Catherine, Princess of Wales’ 10-day visit in 2014 cost about $470,000; and the late Queen Elizabeth II’s 10-day stay cost more than $1.5 million.
If the King’s upcoming visit cost half as much as the last time a monarch toured Australia, it would still cost close to $750,000 – and that’s before considering inflation or the cost of living crisis, both of which have raised the cost of just about everything in Australia.
Some respondents were appalled by the idea taxpayers would be expected to foot the bill for the King and Queen with all this in mind.
“The royal family should fund their own travel nowadays and should recognize that there are people who are homeless, can’t feed their children, and the taxpayers money should go to the citizens first, not a tour,” one wrote.
However, 23 per cent of the Aussies polled said Australian taxpayers should fund the upcoming tour, as is traditional.
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“Royal tours are valuable to us as a member of the commonwealth,” one reasoned.
Another said, “While we remain [under] a monarchy, it is the expectation that the country hosting the royal family would fund it.”
A further 11 per cent of respondents said they were unsure who should foot the bill for King Charles and Queen Camilla’s visit next month, which will mark the first time a reigning monarch has visited Australia since 2011.
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