Isn’t a trip to see grandad worth splashing the cash for?

According to reports, the shy Prince Harry is apparently rethinking the whole idea of a grand reconciliation with the Royal Family (he and Meghan were going to bring their children, Archie and Lilibet, over to see Charles and Camilla) because we – the taxpayer – won’t foot the bill for their security detail.

- VICTORIA RICHARDS

To which I can only really say “diddums”. Refusing to bring the kids over to see Grandad Charles and Nanny Camilla feels wrong, verging on spiteful – especially when it’s quite clear the family can afford it.

I actually don’t mind Prince Harry or his wife, and do feel they’ve been given a very rough ride, on the whole (though they certainly haven’t helped themselves along the way).

Still, we’ve quite literally seen the receipts – for last week, Harry’s dad publicly released his tax return, becoming the first monarch ever to do so. And we now know that he paid £12.9m for 2024-2025, making him among the country’s top 100 taxpayers in that financial year.

The more you earn, the more tax you pay; meaning that the King must be on a very pretty penny indeed – not only from the Duchy of Lancaster estate (a private portfolio of land, investments and office, retail and industrial properties) which gave him an annual income in 2025-26 of £25.2m, but private income sources, too. You know, like money from investments or trading profits, funds generated by his private estates of Balmoral and Sandringham – and private savings. That sort of thing.