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Following Meghan Markle and Prince Harry’s fairytale wedding at Windsor Castle in May 2018, the pair visited Ireland for their first official overseas trip. The two-day tour, which saw the

newly weds attend a garden party at the British Ambassador’s Irish residence and meet Irish President Leo Varadkar at government buildings, cost over £250,000 in security fees. The figure,

released under a Freedom of Information request, relates to salaries, wages, allowances, travel, subsistence and incidental expenses incurred by the Garda - the police service of the

Republic of Ireland. Meghan and Harry also visited Ireland’s President Michael Higgins and his wife Sabina Coyne at Áras an Uachtaráin, the official residence and workplace of the President.

They then visited Croke Park, the home of Gaelic Athletic Association, where the pair met with a number of athletes. The royal couple also visited Trinity College in Dublin, the city’s

potato Famine Memorial and the Irish Emigration Museum. Security for the two-day visit came to €283,245 (£241,770). But the fee was substantially lower than the bill for the state visit of

Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip in 2011, which cost over €24million (£20million). The four-day trip was the first visit of a British monarch to Ireland in a century and cost the Garda a

staggering €24,077,757 (£20,552,171). During the official tour, from May 17 to 20, the Queen visited sites of significance for Irish nationalism, including the Garden of Remembrance and

Croke Park - where the 1920 Bloody Sunday massacre took place. The visit was seen as a symbolic visit for the strengthening of ties between the Republic of Ireland and the UK. JUST IN: 

PRINCESS BEATRICE AND FIANCÉ EDOARDO MAPELLI MOZZI VISIT PRINCE ANDREW During a speech at Dublin castle, the Queen acknowledged the “sad and regrettable” mistakes of Britain’s troubled

relationship with Ireland. She said: “It is a sad and regrettable reality that through history our islands have experienced more than their fair share of heartache, turbulence and loss.” It

continued: “To all those who have suffered as a consequence of our troubled past I extend my sincere thoughts and deep sympathy. “With the benefit of historical hindsight we can all see

things which we would wish had been done differently or not at all.” Mr Higgins reciprocated the monarch’s visit in April 2014 and became the first Irish President to make a state visit to

the UK. Their visit also last four days and saw the President welcomed by the Queen at Windsor Castle, following political meetings with the prime minister, opposition leaders and the then

Mayor of London, Boris Johnson.