Daily Mail, By MAIL ON SUNDAY REPORTER, 15th August 2010
Senior Vatican officials who will accompany the Pope on his historic visit to Britain will stay in a luxury hotel where rooms cost up to £900 a night – courtesy of UK taxpayers.
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| Luxury: UK taxpayers are footing the bill for Pope Benedict's stay in London |
The Government has confirmed it will meet the accommodation bill for 11 members of Pope Benedict XVI’s entourage during the visit from September 16-19.
The Government has also decided to give all 11 a daily spending allowance of £150 for the trip.
The money has been set aside for expenses such as food, dry cleaning, UK telephone calls and drinks – as long as they are not from the hotel mini-bar.
The disclosure will exacerbate concerns about the rising cost of the four-day visit, which is already costing UK taxpayers £12million – 50 per cent more than originally intended.
Some critics have questioned why the Government has to pay so much when the Roman Catholic Church has a reported fortune of around £30billion.
The hotel is close to Westminster and boasts a swimming pool and 24-hour room service.
It will cater for the spiritual needs of the party by allowing a chapel to be set up in its private dining room.
The Pope himself will stay in the Papal Nuncio’s residence at Wimbledon,
South-West London.
The event will be the first visit to Britain by a Pope since 1982.
A Cabinet Office spokesman said it was not identifying the hotel for security reasons.
He also said that there were very strict conditions attached to the spending allowance.
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