JERSEY spent more than four times as much as Guernsey did on the royal visit to the Channel Islands last year, it has emerged.
The States of Guernsey confirmed that £110,600 was spent on King Charles III and Queen Camilla’s trip to the island on 16 July.
The visit to Guernsey included a special States meeting and ceremony of homage, displays of Guernsey’s culture, heritage, produce and environment, a tea party, and public entertainment.
The £110,600 cost included preparation, setting up the sites and clearing away afterwards.
Meanwhile Jersey’s royal visit, which took place the day before, on 15 July, cost £485,000.
A breakdown of the Jersey budget was published last year, and showed that almost £115,000 was spent on communications for the event.
The largest spend in Jersey was on contractors, which racked up a bill of almost £135,000.
According to the Bailiff’s Chambers, this amount covered event and site coordination, crowd and safety consultation, site building, and the event’s first aid provision.
Almost £92,000 was spent to “furnish the Royal Visit Exposition to a high standard”, and £12,198 was spent on catering for the tea party for 340 guests.
The event’s infrastructure – which included marquees, staging, seating, toilets and barriers – cost £50,281, and £1,140 was spent on transport for the visit.
An additional £80,000 was spent on security, entertainment, safety training and logistics for the event.
In a statement accompanying the total cost announcement, the Bailiff, Sir Timothy Le Cocq, acknowledged that the costs were “significant” – but said they are “what is expected when delivering an event of this nature and scale”.
