The final numbers are in and it's official: Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's wedding was expensive AF. We already knew that, of course, but now we have some concrete numbers to gape at.
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According to Express, the total cost of the high-profile, televised May wedding was £32 million, with figures showing that £1.5 million was spent by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport and the bulk of the budget (£3o million of the £32 million spent) went to security.
New numbers offer a point-by-point breakdown of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex's grand wedding (at least of the aspects that were paid for by taxpayers, anyway—the royal family shouldered the cost of things like flowers and reception fees).
“As was the case with the wedding of The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, The Royal Family will pay for the core aspects of the wedding, such as the church service, the associated music, flowers, decorations, and the reception afterwards,” Kensington Palace said in a statement about the wedding.
Among the new budget details revealed by Express are:
- £232,810 for the PA system used to communicate what was happening in St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle to the public.
- £1,084,512 for the Windsor and Maidenhead council for "stewarding, crowd control barriers, big screens, waste disposal, barriers and associated costs."
- £128,714 for private contractors.
- £3,875 for staff travel and expenses.
- £2,907 for accreditation passes.
- £14,081 for flags and banners.
Another tidbit from the budget breakdown? The cost of Meghan's wedding dress. The former actress became the Duchess of Sussex in a Clare Waight Keller dress that cost an estimated £390,000. For comparison, Kate Middleton's wedding dress was said to have cost about £250,000.