Meghan and Harry splurged nearly $315K on 2019's 'most expensive' royal trip funded by taxpayers' money
The royal travel budget of 2019 has shown that Meghan Markle and Prince Harry had the most expensive trip in 2019 in which $313,296 taxpayers’ money was spent. The couple reportedly took eleven charter flights and two passenger jets on their trip to South Africa, Botswana, Angola, and Malawi that lasted for ten days in September 2019.
In addition to the expenditure, the publicly funded trip also made news because at the same time, the 36-year-old alleged that the British media carried out a “ruthless campaign" against the former actress. A statement by Harry released on October 1 last year read: “Unfortunately, my wife has become one of the latest victims of a British tabloid press that wages campaigns against individuals with no thought to the consequences – a ruthless campaign that has escalated over the past year, throughout her pregnancy and while raising our newborn son."
According to The Daily Mail, the sources have defended the expenses spent on the tour, saying: “The Duke and Duchess of Sussex undertook over 20 engagements, bringing attention to a number of worthwhile causes, in particular, raising awareness of the work and the legacy of the Halo Trust [an anti-landmine charity championed by Princess Diana]. The visit, as an official visit funded by the Government, fulfilled the objectives that were set out for it.”
The second most expensive royal trip was of Prince Charles, who took a last-minute private jet from Aberdeen to Oman to pay respect to His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said after his death. While Prince William and Kate Middleton's tour to Pakistan was the third costliest of 2019, which cost $ 149,203 (£117,116).
The travel budget report came amid the backlash the Sussexes are facing over their interference in US politics. After stepping down from the senior royal duties in March, Meghan and Harry are living with their son Archie in a $14million, the nine-bedroom mansion in Montecito, California. They also recently signed a multi-million dollar deal with Netflix. But recently they were heavily slammed online for breaking royal protocol and speaking out about the election in America. In a Time 100 video message, Harry - a non-American - said: "As we approach this November, it's vital that we reject hate speech, misinformation and online negativity" while his wife called the upcoming election the "most important election of our lifetime". “When we vote, our values are put into action and our voices are heard. Your voice is a reminder that you matter because you do and you deserve to be heard,” she added.
Conservative US author PJ O’Rourke criticized the pair as reported by The Sun. He said: “We fought a war in 1776 to keep the British Royal Family's opinions out of American politics." Besides, many social media users took to several platforms to condemn them. One person said, “Them two really don’t have a clue do they. They cannot see that most people find them irrelevant and don’t want to hear what they have to say." Another one added, “Where does this British prince get off talking about the American elections? He and his D-list actress wife need to get over themselves!"
"Because these Hypocrites think that they're going to be part of the new global reset that is set to take place. They think that they're going to be the new AI gods... Lol,” added the third user.