Campaigners have called on the government to take responsibility for reporting the costs of the monarchy. The call comes in light of the latest annual report from Buckingham Palace which has been called "dishonest, incomplete and lacking any serious scrutiny."

Every year the palace is free to produce and release its own figures and spin them to the press. Campaign group Republic has called on the Treasury to take on the responsibility and report directly to parliament.

Republic has condemned the reports as grossly dishonest and misleading, pointing out that the full annual cost of the monarchy is well over half a billion pounds.

Key points:

  • Full cost is well over half a billion pounds. (See the Half a Billion Pound Royals report released last year.)
  • The Palace's claim the huge increase in the Sovereign Grant will fund refurbishment of Buckingham Palace raises questions about ballooning costs.
  • The Duchy of Cornwall and Duchy of Lancaster are not the private property of William and Charles (see the Ditch the Duchies report which provides ample evidence of this). The fact they only voluntarily pay tax means they must declare what tax they are paying.
  • The taxpayer is effectively paying William £23m a year, 138 times more than the prime minister's salary.
  • Ten days ago activists attempted to deliver an overdue invoice for £4bn to Buckingham Palace (see here for details, including video and photos)

Speaking for Republic today, Graham Smith said:

"The cost of the monarchy is out of control and these reports receive almost no political scrutiny. Excuses are rolled out and baseless claims are made about value for money. Yet there is no excuse for this excess and abuse of public funds."

"Why are we paying incomes of more than £20m each to William and Charles? Why do they need more than two dozen homes subsidised by the taxpayer?"

"The Irish president costs around £5m a year. The cost of the monarchy could be slashed to well below £10m. That doesn't happen because this is a corrupt and secretive institution that refuses to be held to account."

"It's time the Duchies were taken off royal hands, and it's time these figures were released by government to parliament, where they can be properly scrutinised."

"The Palace cannot be trusted to be open and transparent. These reports are dishonest, incomplete and lacking any serious scrutiny."