10:31pm UK, Thursday June 30, 2005

Prince Charles made 11% more money last year, taking his total income over the £13m mark, according to an annual review.

On top of that cash, he was given government grants of £2.7m to cover his official travel costs, communications and property maintenance.

180 smiling prince charles wedding announcement

Prince Charles

The grants cost each tax payer 4p a year, the report into his income and expenditure for the financial year up to March 31 shows.

The main bulk of his money comes from the Duchy of Cornwall, which made him £13,274,000 compared with 2003-2004 when he made £11,913,000.

His private income increased because of rising revenue from commercial properties, while most agricultural rents fell.

The figures also show that the Prince raised £109m for his main charities, making him "the greatest charitable entrepreneur in the world", said Private Secretary Sir Michael Peat.

And on top of that, he donated some £2.5m of his own money to charity.

It seems that Prince Charles spends most of his time on official engagements, with 500 clocked up in the last year - 103 of which were overseas.

He entertained more than 7,000 guests and attended 191 formal briefings and meetings.

When he is not meeting people, Charles is catching up on his correspondence. He received more than 47,000 letters from the public and penned more than 2,300 letter personally. His office helped him out by writing a further 18,000 on his behalf.

Duchy Originals, the Prince's organic foods company, made a £1m profit for the second consecutive year - and it was all donated to charity.