Britain's Prince William and his wife Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, pose in front of Uluru
Britain's Prince William and his wife Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, pose in front of Uluru, also known as Ayers Rock, April 22, 2014. Britain's Prince William, his wife Kate and their son Prince George are on a three-week tour of New Zealand and Australia. Reuters/Phil Noble

According to recent reports, Australia spent more than half a million Australian dollars when the Royals visited in April 2014. Nearly $550,000 which was spent during the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge's tour in Australia.

Prince William and Kate Middleton came to Australia with their young child Prince George in April 2014. They visited some of the most significant places in the country during the 10-day tour. The places they visited included Uluru aka Ayers Rock and the Sydney Opera House, Sky News reports. The cost of the Royal tour included the preliminary visit by personal protection officers and Kensington Palace staff in January. The lion's share of the entire cost was spent on transportation. Australian taxpayers paid more than $250,000 as the RAAF flew William and Kate from New Zealand to various places in Australia such as Adelaide and Brisbane.

While other costs like hospitality and even miscellaneous costs were included in the calculation, security costs were not mentioned in the released document. According to The Guardian, the security costs were expected to be "significant" during the Royal visit. The figures of the expenses were released under freedom of information. The tour grabbed major media attention to report the kind of clothes the Duchess wore during the visit. Prince George's photos were also strongly sought out during the Royal tour. The Royal couple stayed in Sydney in the beginning of the tour and then moved to Canberra. Their son George, on the other hand, did not accompany them in their official engagements.

The tourism industry, nevertheless, was pleased as it was predicted that tourists would spend around $60 million after the Royal visit. The sites that the Royal couple visited would turn out to be places of interest for other tourists as well, analysts predicted. The cost of the Royal visit was, however, less than what had been expected. When Prince Philip visited Australia with the Queen in 2011, it took around $2.6 million of taxpayers' money. It also took more than $3 million when American television host Oprah Winfrey visited Australia. It is considered to be a general practice for the host country to pay for the expenses of a Royal visit.

Contact the writer: s.mukhopadhyay@ibtimes.com.au