Kate has spent more than $50,000 on clothes this year but it’s Prince Charles who pays all the bills

Photography by Danny Martindale/WireImage
Photography by Danny Martindale/WireImage

Kate Middleton has undergone quite the fashion transformation since marrying into the royal family. Once renowned for her High Street commoner style, the now Duchess of Cambridge has embraced designer and owns quite the impressive wardrobe to prove it. While she’s keen to recycle an Alexander McQueen jacket here and a Jenny Packham dress there, we’ve still often wondered just how much her new attire is worth—and how she goes about paying for it all, especially considering that Will is making just £44,000 flying helicopters.

Well, it turns out that it’s her father-in-law who picks up the tab! It was revealed today that Prince Charles uses the household budget from his Duchy of Cornwall holdings (a private estate) to fund the public expenses of his wife and children—and Kate. (Public expenses being anything to do with their royal duties, which includes clothing.) The exact numbers are slated to go public later this week, but right now estimates stand at £35,000 (or, $56,000 Canadian) for Kate’s new wardrobe. Considering that Prince Charles’ entire household budget was £11.4 million last year, that amount really isn’t that extravagant.

And, for further proof of Kate being a proper princess, it’s worth nothing that she doesn’t accept freebies. While her personal staff helps make the transactions, Kate insists on paying ticket price for all of her designer duds.

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