Royals warned not to dump cost of William and Kate's lavish wedding on the taxpayer



'Taxpayers should not be left with a bill fit for a king'



Security alone for the Royal wedding will cost millions

St James' Palace insist it is 'mindful' of economic climate

Middletons may contribute - but towards the honeymoon



The Royal family has been warned not to leave taxpayers facing an enormous bill for a lavish wedding following Prince William's engagement.

Campaigners insist it will be 'sickening' for the public purse to be squeezed for the occasion at a time of such austerity and drastic spending cuts.



The cost of providing security for such a high-profiled event alone is expected to run into millions of pounds at a time when police budgets are stretched.



Anti-monarchy campaign group Republic has declared the wedding a 'private matter' and urged the Government not to spend a 'single penny more' on the Royals.

Blissfully happy: Prince William and Kate Middleton yesterday after announcing their engagement

Spokesman Graham Smith said: 'It is not for the taxpayer to pay for any part of this event - the Windsors must cough up.



'Inevitably there will be additional security arrangements for the wedding, but that must be paid for by the Windsor family from their own personal fortunes, not by taxpayers who are experiencing sweeping spending cuts.



'If people are being told to tighten their belts, if the Government is making thousands unemployed, if welfare payments are being slashed, it would be sickening for the Government to allow a single penny more to be spent on the Royals at this time.



'Spending public money on this wedding or affording it any special status would be no more appropriate than if it were Ed Miliband's wedding. This is a private occasion.'



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Emma Boon, campaign director of the TaxPayers' Alliance, added: 'A Royal wedding will be an exciting occasion for the public, but William and Kate should avoid a lavish ceremony at a time when there is huge pressure on the public finances.



'It would make them look out of touch with ordinary taxpayers, many of whom are struggling with the rising cost of living.



'Of course it should be an event for the whole nation to celebrate, but ordinary taxpayers should not be left with a bill fit for a king.'

Well-heeled: Michael and Carole Middleton yesterday. It is thought they are keen to contribute somehow

An academic accused the 'British establishment' of considering using a 'lavish, pompous' royal wedding to distract the public from the economic downturn.



Stephen Haseler, professor of government at London Metropolitan University, told the BBC: 'All in this together? When you have a lavish royal wedding?



'They are seeing this as something to distract people from the coming unemployment queues.'

He added: 'What we have got is a democratic society, a downturn coming, and the British establishment toying with the idea, at least, of trying to distract everyone with these bread and circuses.



'This is not a normal downturn. In this very serious situation I think it's the role of government to be absolutely right right about this, that we are all in this together.



'We don't want extremes of wealth and poverty and we don't want lavish, pompous weddings.' He said the couple should have a ceremony which would be 'a private and dignified affair'.



All out: Prince Charles' wedding to Diana in 1981 was extravagant and William is under pressure to rein his in

St James' Palace have already stressed that the Prince and his bride-to-be Kate Middleton will be 'mindful of the economic situation' as they plan their day.



The Royal family are expected to shoulder almost all of the vast cost, although the Middletons - who are multi-millionaires - have not yet ruled out contributing and may pay for the honeymoon.



It is thought there is no special fund set aside by the Royals to fund the occasion, meaning it will have to be borne out of the Civil List unless Parliament votes for an extra boost.

Alternatively, the Queen and the Prince of Wales could dip into their private fortunes

The official cost of Prince Charles and Diana's wedding was never revealed - but estimates claim it probably topped £30million.

The Queen was hit with a 14 per cent cut in her budget in the Comprehensive Spending Review last month, with her £30million annual Government grant frozen until 2012.



A £1million payout was added to cover the cost of her Diamond Jubilee in 2012 and it is possible Parliament could not vote to extend this to also cover the wedding.

Impressive: Westminster Abbey is considered favourite for wedding venue

Tight squeeze: The chapel at St James' Palace is another frontrunner

George Osborne is moving to scrap the annual grant and replace it with a 'sovereign support grant' which will see the Royals share in the immensely lucrative Crown Estate for the first time in 250 years.



The change is thought likely to give a significant boost to the royal coffers - but it is not due to come into effect until 2013, two years after William's wedding.



After the high emotion of yesterday, the couple now have to sit down with royal advisers and start to organise every aspect of the day.



Top of the list to fix is the date, with July seen as the frontrunner although August also a strong possibility. Next will be the venue, with Westminster Abbey most likely.



Kate, 28, will be left to her own devices to commission a designer to create her dress and complete control over the design.

London Mayor Boris London has offered up City Hall as a possible 'cut-price' venue and suggested it should not be too extreme.



He said: 'I'm not saying the wedding should be cut-price or bargain, but a cost-effective wedding in keeping with our cost-effective times.'



