Harry and Meghan spent £0.25m on Africa trip months before quitting

Harry and Meghan took their then four-month-old son Archie Mountbatten-Windsor to South Africa last September on his first overseas trip, with the Duke also travelling solo to Angola, Malawi and Botswana. The cost of flights made it the most expensive Royal journey of the year.

It became mired in controversy after Meghan launched legal action against a newspaper and Harry delivered a scathing attack on the tabloid press while still abroad.

But as the tour was sanctioned by the Foreign Office, the Duke and Duchess are under no obligation to pay any money back – despite announcing their decision to quit as senior Royals just three months later, a source confirmed.

Buckingham Palace’s Sovereign Grant financial report revealed the couple’s travel costs came to £245,643, including scheduled flights to and from South Africa, Harry’s charter flights for his solo trips and flights for a staff planning visit.

“The Duke and Duchess of Sussex undertook over 20 engagements, bringing attention to a number of worthwhile causes,” the source said.

“So, the visit, as an official visit funded by the Government, fulfilled the objectives that were set out for it and so therefore there would be no requirement or obligation on the Duke and Duchess of Sussex to make any payments in relation to that official visit.”

During the 10-day tour, Meghan gave a rousing speech to young women in a township, and also tackled the issue of gender-based violence in South Africa. But the highlights were overshadowed at the end when the Duchess announced a privacy lawsuit against the Mail on Sunday over a letter she wrote to her father. Harry then filed his own legal proceedings against two newspaper groups over alleged historical phone hacking.

And in an ITV documentary filmed in Africa, the couple spoke of their struggles as Royals.

Other costly overseas trips by members of the Royal family included a two-day visit by the Prince of Wales to Oman to pay his condolences following the death of Sultan Qaboos bin Said, with the charter flight costing £210,345. The source said the trip was taken at short notice, and that no commercial flights were available.

The Duke of York took a charter flight to Northern Ireland to attend the Royal Portrush Golf Club’s Open championship, which cost £15,848, according to the annual accounts. The source defended Andrew’s use of a charter instead of a scheduled flight, saying: “The use of charter was the only way to get him to complete his engagements to fit in with his other programmes.”

Andrew, once nicknamed Air Miles Andy for his lavish use of aircraft at the public expense, has since stepped down from Royal duties over his former friendship with the convicted paedophile, Jeffrey Epstein.

The Princess Royal flew by charter to Rome to watch the Italy v Scotland Six Nations rugby match, while for a trip to Pakistan, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s travel costs were £117,116.

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