他她話題:揭祕英國皇室財政來源

It's been a busy year for the British royal family. The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall alone covered almost 48,000 miles to undertake 804 official engagements between April 2011 and the end of March this year. So who pays the bills?

對英國皇室來說，這一年是忙碌的一年。從2011年4月到今年3月底，光威爾士親王和康沃爾公爵夫人爲了參加804次官方活動的路程就達到4萬8千英里。那麼誰爲他們的花費買單呢？

Prince Charles' office at Clarence House released its annual review Friday, shedding light on how money is spent on the couple, as well as Princes William and Harry and, of course, the newest addition to the family, Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge.

查爾斯王子位於克勞倫斯宮的辦公地，於上週五發布了年度回顧，清楚地揭示了查爾斯王子夫婦、威廉王子和哈利王子的財務支出情況，當然還包括皇室的最新成員凱瑟琳王妃，即劍橋公爵夫人的支出情況。

As the queen's eldest son, Charles, Prince of Wales, is mostly funded by the Duchy of Cornwall, a private estate consisting of more than 200 square miles of agricultural, commercial and residential land in southwest England.

作爲女王長子的威爾斯親王，查爾斯，其花費多數都是由康沃爾公爵領地資助。康沃爾公爵領地超過200平方英里，是位於英格蘭西南部的私人農業、商業和住宅領地。

In the 2011-12 fiscal year, the prince's private income from the duchy rose by 3% to slightly more than $28.5 million. He received an additional $3.42 million in public funding from Parliament and government departments, a year-on-year increase of 11.8%.

2011到2012財年，王子從公爵領地得來的個人收入略微增長了3%，超過2850萬美元。從國會和政府那裏，王子還收到了公共資助的342萬美元，與去年相比增長了11.8%。

With more private and public income, Prince Charles' household spending increased by 4.1% to $15.3 million, and 135 full-time staff members received a pay raise of 3%.

有了更爲豐厚的個人和公共收入，查爾斯王子一家的費用支出也上漲了4.1%，達到1530萬美元，家裏全職的135名員工的工資增長了3%。

So what is the expense of the royal family's newest member?

那麼皇室最新成員的花錢情況呢？

"It's actually quite minimal," said Prince Charles' communications secretary.

“事實上她花得是最少的，”查爾斯王子一家的通訊祕書說道。

A royal aide added that it would be "rather impolite" to disclose how much money had been spent on the dresses that hit front pages of newspapers around the world every time Catherine steps out in public. What we do know, though, is that Prince Charles pays for his daughter-in-law's outfits for official engagements.

另外，一名皇室助手說，每次凱瑟琳王妃出場的穿着都佔據全球的報紙頭版，透露這些衣着的花費是 “非常無禮”的。我們所知道的就是，查爾斯王子負擔兒媳每次官方活動的套裝費用。

Anti-monarchy groups have criticized the royal family for using public money to travel. "Prince Charles gives little back to the country yet has a held sense of entitlement when it comes to accessing public funds," Graham Smith said Friday. "We believe time is long overdue that the government brought royal spending under proper control."

君主制反對者批評皇室利用公衆財務出遊。“查爾斯王子一家幾乎不回饋國家，卻認爲自己理應花國家的錢，”格雷姆·史密斯週五指出，“我們覺得政府早就該好好管理皇室的支出了。”

However, Prince Charles' communications secretary maintains: "Members of the royal family do a huge amount of work. ... We really feel it's fantastic value for money. As it happens, 90% of it is Prince Charles' own income, so it's not coming from central government coffers."

但查爾斯王子一家的通訊祕書堅持認爲：“皇室成員也做很多工作……事實上我們認爲自己的工作值那麼多錢。查爾斯王子一家90%的收入都來源於自己的領地收入，而不是由中央政府的金庫所提供。”

Royal aides champion the prince's group of 16 charities as the greatest example of the royal family giving back to the public. Between April 2011 and the end of March this year, the Prince of Wales directly or indirectly raised more than $200 million for his charities, which support young people, the environment and enterprise.

皇室助手們擁護查爾斯王子的16個慈善機構，因爲這些機構是皇室回饋公衆的最好例證。從2011年4月到今年3月底，查爾斯王子的慈善機構直接或間接籌集了超過2億美元，這些錢用來幫助年輕人創業、改善環境以及自主企業。

After last year's royal wedding and the recent Diamond Jubilee celebrations,polls have showed that the British royal family is as popular as ever. Riding high on that wave is the household of the Prince of Wales, as exemplified by the 76,825 letters received from the public in 2011-12. That is more than double the mail from the previous year.

自去年的皇室婚禮和最近的鑽石週年慶典後，民意顯示，人們仍然和以前一樣熱衷英國皇室家庭。2011年到2012年收到的76825封公衆來信表明威爾士親王一家的受歡迎程度很高。信的數量比去年多了一半多。