The shocking cost of a royal visit revealed in viral tweet

Prince Charles and his wife Camilla spent just one night in this city — but the final bill for putting them up was in the hundreds of thousands.

An official visit from Prince Charles and wife Camilla has been branded a “shambles” after the cost of hosting the royal couple for just one night was revealed.

The heir to the British throne visited Cork in Ireland back in June along with his second wife.

The Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall stayed overnight — and the visit managed to cost the city a truly staggering bill.

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Now, a Cork councillor has caused a stir by posting an official breakdown of the cost of the tour on Twitter.

“Cork City Council’s spent €19,770 ($A31,098) for a dinner for Charles and Camilla along with 70 guests. In total €203,761 ($A320,516),” Sinn Fein Councillor for Cork North Central Thomas Gould wrote.

“I have no issue with them visiting but I cannot stand over this type of expenditure when we have the high levels of homelessness, hospital waiting lists ...”

The post was accompanied by a photo of the itemised costs associated with hosting the high-profile pair.

Cork City Council’s spent €19,770 for a dinner for Charles & Camilla along with 70 guests. In total €203,761. I have no issue with them visiting but I cannot stand over this type of expenditure when we have the high levels of homelessness, hospital waiting lists € much more. pic.twitter.com/WmaUK4SI6o

— CLLRThomas Gould (@ThomasGouldsf) December 11, 2018

It revealed €5936 ($A9337) was spent on “polishing door handles” alone.

Meanwhile, €11,112 ($A17,479) was spent on the “deep cleaning of offices” while €6222 ($A9787) was splashed on the “replacement of foyer light”.

A further €12,854 ($A20,219) was spent on window displays while €9332 ($A14,679) was dropped on “English market signs”.

Naturally, the outrageous bill has sparked outrage on social media.

“7000 to replace a light? Wtf,” one person wrote, while another added: “It’s ridiculous that these jobs are tendered out to companies who are clearly taking the p*ss and councils are happy to go along with it because they’re spending taxpayers money. Awful.”

Another branded it a “shambles” and an example of “shameful spending”.

Prince Charles and Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall during yet another royal visit — this time, to Nigeria. Picture: Afolabi Sotunde/AFP

“These are not trivial sums of money that need auditing and explaining,” another local griped.

The council explained the cost to CNN, stating: “These items had not been refurbished since they were first put in place over 80 years ago and were due to be refinished but the project was brought forward due to (the) royal visit.”

The council said the tidy-up included “specialist reconditioning, polishing and lacquering of over 260 individual brass items by a local specialist firm” as well as “reconditioning, polishing and lacquering door handles, escutcheons, push plates, finger plates, brass fittings and kick plates.”

Australia had its own well-hyped royal visit in 2018 when Prince Harry and new bride Meghan Markle touched down in October.

While it is not yet known how much that visit cost taxpayers, it is expected to be an eye-watering sum.

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