Princess Beatrice took £300,000 worth of holidays this year
Life is tough as a minor royal. Not only do you have to spend endless hours choosing hats, and attending parties, you also have to find the time to drag yourself overseas to spend a tough week or so sliding down mountains or sitting on beaches. However, it appears that Princess Beatrice has mastered this particular aspect of her role. This year she has taken an astonishing 15 holidays - at a whopping cost of £300,000. It makes her the most well-travelled celebrity of the year so far.
Lastminute.com did the sums, adding up all her trips to the likes of Switzerland, Aspen, Florida, Abu Dhabi, Shanghai, Athens, Rome, Florence, Ibiza (where she was photographed on Roman Abramovich's yacht), New York (three times), St Barts (twice) and the Bahamas. Amanda Cumine, brand director at lastminute.com, explained: "Of the 15 holidays Princess Beatrice has been on this year, we estimate it would cost a whopping £300,000."
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It has crowned her Queen of Holidays, and to honour her extraordinary achievement, it has put together a package combining all of them - The Bea Trip - for the knock-down price of £10,000. It's a 63 day holiday including skiing in Verbier, several trips to New York, plus some time on the beaches of the Caribbean. The marketing blurb claims: "For those lucky enough to secure such generous annual leave, this isn't such a princely sum."
Why does this matter?
To be fair to the Princess, it hasn't all been relaxing on yachts and beaches, some of this travel has been for work. Her trip to the UAE, for example, was to attend a business engagement with her dad, while she was in Florence for the Condé Nast International Luxury Conference. There's also a wedding on the list (Shanghai), and the trips to New York were to visit her family - and secure a new job.
You could also class this as one long gap year - when we'd be surprised not to see someone travel the world. The 27-year-old left her job at Sony at the end of last year, and moved to New York in July to start a new job in equity trading. The only problem with this theory is that since starting the job she has already managed to squeeze in a quick break to Ibiza.
It's also arguably none of our business, as she takes nothing from the public purse to pay for these breaks. She is often visiting friends and family, or staying as the guest of a celebrity. She also regularly travels with her boyfriend, a high-flyer with a good salary, and the number of her friends with private jets must make travel easier.
Given that we're not footing the bill for these trips, there's no reason they should worry us any more than the number of times Coleen Rooney and Tamara Ecclestone are pictured on a beach.
But what do you think? Let us know in the comments.
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