Queen 'may have to move out of Buckingham Palace' amid £150m revamp

The royal train costs around £114 a mile to use, according to the annual financial statement from the monarchy.

The most expensive journey taken on the train cost more than £30,000, taking the Queen and Prince Philip from Windsor to Haverfordwest, and on to Ystrad Mynach, in April 2014.

The price of a standard rail ticket for the journey is £109.50.

The shortest distance travelled in one journey by the train was the 140 miles between London Euston and Wolverhampton, costing £15,956 - compared to the £88.50 pricetag on a standard ticket.

Royal household staff take fewer sick days than the UK average, clocking up 5.8 each compared to the typical worker's 6.6, the monarchy's annual financial statement reveals.

A Buckingham Palace aide said the healthier record of royal workers was down to "almost no internal politics", as staff were simply happy to serve the Queen - as well as a comprehensive benefits package including in-house medics, access to leisure facilities and a colleagues' football team.

The maintenance of the Crown Estate and Buckingham Palace presents a "significant financial challenge", the keeper of the Privy Purse has said.

Sir Alan Reid - the official treasurer to the Queen - said financial officers had managed to keep down expenditure.

The official figure for royal expenditure over the past year was £35.7 million - the equivalent of 56p per person.

The figure has remained the same for two years running.

Here are some of the things it was spent on:

• £18.7m - staff
• £11.7m - property maintenance
• £5.1m - travel costs
• £3.8m - general maintenance of the royal estate
• £2.2m - reserved for future works to Buckingham Palace
• £1.2m - building a new aircraft hangar for the Queen's Helicopter Flight at RAF Odiham
• £800,000 - renewing slate and lead roof coverings at Buckingham Palace
• £700,000 - renewing lead roofing at Windsor Castle
• £300,000 - refurbishing the state glass pantry at Buckingham Palace
• £300,000 - removing asbestos from the basement of Buckingham Palace

Scotland could slash its contribution to the British royal family by up to £1.5 million under plans for further devolution, it has been claimed.

A royal source has reportedly said the changes could mean that any profits from the Crown Estate in Scotland are kept by the Scottish Parliament, rather than the UK Parliament, meaning a cut of between £1m and £1.5m to the Sovereign Grant.

Speaking to the Press Association, he claimed it meant there would a drop "in real terms" in assets from April 1, 2016.

Both the UK and Scottish governments have denied that devolution would have any negative impact on the funding of the monarchy.

A spokesman for the UK Treasury said under the Sovereign Grant Act, the grant could not be reduced, meaning Scottish taxpayers would continue to fund their "full and fair share".

A Scottish government spokesman added: "There would be no change in Scotland's contribution to the Sovereign Grant through general taxation."

It comes as the annual royal statement of finances revealed the monarchy cost the taxpayer £35.7m in 2014/15 - the same as the year before, and the equivalent of 56p per person in the UK.