No one knows for sure how much Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's wedding will cost the taxpayer - but we're starting to get an idea of the sums involved.
The first estimate of how much Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s royal wedding will cost the taxpayer has been released – and it’s a tidy sum.
The family revealed to fanfare at the end of last year that they’d be footing the bill for the ceremony itself.
Yet there will be a huge security effort – which taxpayers will have to pay for.
The new estimates suggest the taxpayer will end up spending £24m for security and road closures, according to reports.
But now over 14,000 people have signed a petition calling for the family to cover the security costs.
The petition, by campaign group Republic, states:
“A royal wedding is a private, personal event, dressed up as a national occasion. That lets the royals use the wedding as a PR exercise and to expect the taxpayer will pay a large part of the costs.”
The petition is calling on MPs to ensure no public money is spent on the event.
Republican campaigner Graham Smith told Left Foot Forward:
“The royal family can’t have it both ways: they argue for their own privacy yet when it comes to private weddings they try and make us pay for it.
“We think the royals should pay for the entire lot.”
He added:
“Britain’s public services are being squeezed, budgets are being cut – yet apparently we can find £24m to throw at the richest family in the country…a royal wedding is the last thing we need to be spending money on.
“Anyone else having a public event with a procession down the street would be expected to pay up – why are the royals any different?”
Asked for comment, republican firebrand Denis Skinner MP told this site:
“This [wedding] is on top of the massive cost of renovating Parliament.
“It’s got nothing to do with me…I won’t be seeing it.”
Thames Valley Police did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the security bill.
Josiah Mortimer is Editor of Left Foot Forward. Follow him on Twitter.
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