In his sixth report on the costs of European heads of state, Herman Matthijs, professor of administrative science and public finances at Ghent University, notes the Royal Family had cut spending .
Queen Elizabeth II's cost to the taxpayer has fallen as result of austerity measures which have been deeper and faster than reductions to the Dutch monarchy's annual bill at a time when belt-tightening is affecting all of Europe's royal families.
Prof Matthijs's research found that the cost of British monarchy, praised as one of the most open about its finances, had been reduced by 16 per cent, falling from £35.5 million to £29.7m over the last year.
The £30.7 million Dutch bill for Queen Beatrix and her children, including £14m in personal allowances, is four times the cost of keeping the Spanish royal family, a country that is at heart of the eurozone's debt crisis.
Moreover, the burden to taxpayers of the Dutch royal family, Europe's most expensive, is proportionately heavier because the population of the Netherlands is almost a third of the size of Spain's and a mere quarter of Britain's. » | Bruno Waterfield | Thursday, July 19, 2012
