Royal tour costs, part VIII

The cost, according to the attached letter, was $58,428. That's $29,000 a day. Compare that with Charles and Camilla at $127,000 a day (that's $63,000 each, more than double the Belgians). As an aside, it's interesting to note that the Department of Internal Affairs didn't stall on this request.

The only reason why Charles and Camilla's tour in November was more expensive was because it was a PR exercise. The 2005 tour by Charles alone was $250,000. Factoring in inflation, the cost for the 2012 tour should've been $300,000. It wasn't because hundreds of thousands was spent on public relations, birthday parties and other pointless costs heaped on the New Zealand taxpayer.