The Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s new home of Frogmore Cottage has cost £2.4 million of public funds to renovate so far, according to this year’s Royal accounts.

The cottage has been remodelled from five separate living quarters into one large official residence for the couple and their son Archie, paid for largely by the Sovereign Grant.

While the couple have paid for any upgraded fixtures and fittings themselves, the public fund has met the cost of replacing heating, electric, gas and water main systems, as well as replacing ceiling beams and floor joists.

They were also able to install a “certain standard” of kitchen, bathroom, flooring and fitted furniture from the grant, with the cost of anything considered a “higher spec” than the approved palace quality being met by the Duke and Duchess privately.

The Frogmore Cottage restructure, approved so that the couple could move out of Kensington Palace into a family home before Archie was born, contributed to a total £67 million expenditure towards the maintenance of royal palaces and the official duties of the Queen.