LONDON, June 25 (Xinhua) -- The cost of the British monarchy in 2018 amounted to just 1.58 U.S. dollars for each person in the country, figures released by the Royal Household here revealed on Tuesday.
Key financial details for 2018-2019 showed the total cost of the Royal Household, known as the Sovereign Grant, amounted to 105 million U.S. dollars, compared to 97 million U.S. dollars in the previous year.
During the review year, Queen Elizabeth II, 93, attended 150 engagements across Britain.
In total, over 3,200 official engagements were attended by members of the royal family across Britain and overseas.
Over 160,000 guests were welcomed at royal palaces at events such as garden parties and investitures, mainly at Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle.
More than 7.9 million people saw items from the Royal Collection Trust displayed in royal palaces, the report said.
Reflecting on the report, the Keeper of the Privy Purse, Sir Michael Stevens, said that 2018-2019 has been a busy period for the Royal Household.
The Sovereign Grant included funding to carry out works at Buckingham Palace, the British monarch's main London home.
It was the second year of a major 10-year project to future-proof the palace's essential services.
"This followed a report to HM Treasury identifying that the building's infrastructure was in urgent need of an overhaul to avoid the very real danger of catastrophic failure," Stevens said.
The works required members of the royal family and all staff to move out of the palace's east wing, along with over 3,000 works of art, leaving this area of the building unoccupied.
Reflecting on the palace's facelift, Stevens added: "The 10-year program presents a unique opportunity for innovation and investment in one of the world's most prestigious and iconic historic buildings, thereby preserving it for future generations.
"The work is sequenced so as to enable the palace to remain occupied and fully operational and the Queen's program to continue to be delivered without interruption."
Newspapers in London zoomed in on the costs shown in the annual royal accounts of renovating the marital home of Prince Harry and his American actress wife, Meghan Markle.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex's home, Frogmore Cottage close to Windsor Castle, has been renovated at a cost of more than 3 million U.S. dollars of public funds. The 19th century property was given to the couple by Queen Elizabeth.
