Britain's royal family spends tax-payers' millions on garden parties and vacations

Almost everyone has ever dreamt to be a king or president of some country. However, only few realize that to rule a country is a very expensive pleasure. And the British royalty is a very good example to it.

	Prince Charles
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The Royal Family in Great Britain received £37.4m (1£ = 1.85$) from the public purse last year - an increase of 4.2 per cent from the previous year.

Pressure increased on the Queen, whose private wealth is estimated to be £2bn, to open the financial books still further by revealing the tax she voluntarily pays to the Treasury, just days after Prince Charles set a precedent by revealing his tax secrets.

For the first time, the Prince of Wales acknowledged that he pays £3.3m in tax. The Queen agreed to pay tax when John Major was Prime Minister, but the amount she pays remains firmly under wraps. "We take a strong view that the Queen's private finances are, like any other individual, private and she is entitled to have her privacy," said one senior Palace aide.

The Queen receives £11.2m from the civil list for public duties as head of state and for staff costs. The royal accounts gave no details about her private income from estates such as Sandringham , but focused on expenditure by the Royal Family on public duties in this country and abroad, and on the upkeep of the royal palaces.

The cost of royal flights also increased by £600,000, to a total bill of £4.6m, despite criticism last year of costs generated by some members of the Royal Family, including Prince Andrew's use of helicopters.

The following are other expenses of the Royal Family.

Staff £8.2m

The Queen employs a total of 310 staff at the palaces. Total payroll cost: £8.2m a year paid for by the taxpayer on the civil list.

The number of staff has gone up slightly from 307 in 2004. The household staff total 176. Three extra staff had to be hired to handle freedom of information inquiries, even though the palace is exempt from the law.

Staff numbers include 36 at Buckingham Palace and St James's Palace, and 21 at Kensington palace, Hampton Court and Windsor Castle maintenance office. There are 15 craftsmen carrying out repairs to the historic buildings who cost about £500,000 a year. Palace gardeners cost £400,000 a year.

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