Select a region
Five months after their sunny day trip to Guernsey, the cost of staging the Royal Visit of King Charles III and Queen Camilla has finally been revealed.
The total sum was £110,600.
That included paying for the events staged around their visit, security measures such as barriers, and the costs involved with setting up and taking down all of the infrastructure at locations they visited.
The States of Guernsey were asked some months ago to disclose how much the visit cost with a statement released today confirming the amount.
It was the King's first visit as Monarch, and only the second ever visit of Camilla, his Queen Consort.
The pair had last visited the islands in 2012 while titled Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall.
Following the death of Queen Elizabeth II in September 2022, the King ascended to the throne.
During his visit to Guernsey in July this year, three separate ceremonies were held so Guernsey, Alderney and Sark could each pay homage and reaffirm their allegiance to the Crown.
The States said the visit "highlighted the special and historic relationship between the Bailiwick and the Crown which stretches back centuries and it underlined the autonomy of the islands, separate from the UK".
Tens of thousands of people responded to the visit by turning up to show their respects.
Pictured: Crowds lined the town seafront to see Their Majesties.
An estimated 15,000 people gathered at the St Peter Port seafront and Cambridge Park to see Their Majesties with more lining the routes they were driven along to.
A small contingency from Alderney travelled to Guernsey, alongside a slightly larger group from Sark, for special events centred around their islands at Les Cotils.
The States of Guernsey said the £110,600 bill covered the cost of staging the special States of Deliberation meeting and ceremony of homage on the St Peter Port town quay, the displays of Guernsey’s culture, heritage, produce and environment and tea party on the Crown Pier, the public entertainment at Cambridge Park and events at for Alderney and Sark, and around the Royal Golden Guernsey Goat at Les Cotils.
The costs include preparation, setting up the sites and clearing away afterwards, said the States.
However, numerous people, organisations, and businesses, also provided their time, skills, and services for free to enable the Royal Visit to go ahead.
The Bailiff’s Office, Government House and the States of Guernsey together said they are "extremely grateful to all those entities and individuals who provided products and services at no charge. Their generosity and commitment to ensuring that the Visit took place successfully is much appreciated".
The Royal Visit dominated local news reports before, during, and after the King and Queen's trip to Guernsey, however, there was also extensive coverage of the visit in the national media.
The States has said that included "valuable (but unpaid) column inches and beautiful images in the mainstream newspapers, websites, TV channels and social media".
The Royal Family's official social media channels used a photo of Queen Camilla in Guernsey, at Hauteville House, to mark her birthday.
In the chosen photo, Her Majesty is seen wearing a friendship bracelet made for, and gift to her, by Guernsey schoolgirl Lola Burdett. Sark schoolgirl Mia Craik-Knight and her friend also made and gifted bracelets to the Queen.
A spike in the number of visits to the Visit Guernsey website immediately after the visit was also recorded.
The States says analysis of the coverage of the Their Majesties’ visit to Guernsey identified more than 300 pieces of online, TV, radio and print coverage, and found that it reached three million international print media readers and 50 million online views.
The Royal Visit: Thousands gather for historic day in the sun
WATCH: The Royal Visit through our eyes
Sure apologises for disruption during Royal visit
Comments
Comments on this story express the views of the commentator only, not Bailiwick Publishing. We are unable to guarantee the accuracy of any of those comments.