Case No. FD20F00034-and-FD19P00380

90. I now turn to general maintenance for the children. The respective figures here are almost as far apart as elsewhere in the case. HRH seeks provision of £17,505,460, per annum, once the security costs in Schedule J are deducted. It reduces to £15,642,443 if the additional holiday security costs in Schedule C are also deducted. HH offers £3,800,000 per annum, although I note that this is a significant increase on the current maintenance figure of £84,000 per month, or £1,008,000 per annum. The headings are broken down into a significant number of individual categories, namely HRH’s home near Kensington Palace and housekeeping; Castlewood and housekeeping; holidays and weekends away (including security for those trips); transport; children’s animals; children’s leisure; children’s personal staffing excluding security; children’s health; private office, London; and private office, Amman. 91. In reaching my conclusions, I have very much had in mind the figures that were spent during the marriage in Dubai, as exemplified by the 2019 budget, signed by HH. I have not heard from HH. I am unable to compare his expenditure with that sought by HRH. I accept, in accordance with authority, that the children should be able to have a lifestyle that is not entirely out of kilter with that enjoyed by them in Dubai and that enjoyed by HH and his family. I accept, of course, that it will be quite impossible to replicate, pound for pound, the standard of living they enjoyed before their parents separated but I am going to be generous and accept many of the figures put forward by HRH. In the areas where I have made reductions, I have done so for good reason based on specific points made by Mr Dyer. The first schedule that I must consider relates to HRH’s home near Kensington Palace. It starts with the somewhat arbitrary increase of £60,000 per annum in relation to the trust/legal fees of the two trusts that hold the property. I accept Mr Dyer’s submission in this regard and reduce the figure claimed by £60,000 per annum to £152,000 per annum. On the other hand, I allow in full the claim for employee costs. I cannot ignore the existing numbers of staff and the phenomenal number of staff previously available to HRH in Dubai. The same applies in relation to facility maintenance costs and household expenses. The most difficult aspect is the figure of £1.9 million sought for wear and tear of £900,000 pa and comprehensive refurbishment of £10 million every ten years. Both leading counsel point to the sum spent on refurbishment of the property following purchase. Mr Dyer says that, having spent that sum then, far less is needed in the future. By contrast, Mr Cusworth asserts that, if this sum was spent on a property that was only to be occupied for a few weeks per annum, surely a similar sum should be available now for one of only two main properties for the children. I must remind myself that this is a very large and prestigious house that needs to be maintained to the highest possible standard. I consider a wear and tear budget of £500,000 per annum is appropriate but that the capital refurbishment budget is reasonable in the sum of £10 million every ten years. This makes a total budget for HRH’s home near Kensington Palace of £2,476,000 per annum. It forms Schedule C. 92. I now turn to Castlewood. I have already found that HH should be discharging the costs of this property so long as the children remain dependent. Having said that, I cannot see why the trust/legal fees should be any different to those for HRH’s home near Kensington Palace, so I allow £152,000 pa. I allow in full all the various claims for the general outgoings and running costs of the property. When it comes to wear and tear, a figure of £250,000 per annum is claimed, whilst comprehensive refurbishment is sought at £3 million every ten years. I have already made the point that the latter figure is not far off the value of the property. I consider that the general wear and tear figure should be £125,000 pa and the refurbishment figure £200,000 pa. This makes a grand total of £1,009,800 pa. It is to be found in Schedule D. 93. The next item is holidays, which is complicated by the fact that it includes large elements for the additional costs of security for those holidays. The first item is the costs of flights, claimed at £1,820,000, which involves private planes for seven separate holidays over nine weeks. I have always found this difficult as my experience is that children do not want to be away for very extensive periods as they get older, particularly if they are preparing for very important examinations. Having said that, HH’s counter budget of £200,000 pa is self-evidently insufficient. I have decided to allow £1 million. I allow the hotels and accommodation costs as claimed. I assess food, expenses and activities at £300,000. I consider the trips to Jordan to be important, particularly given that HRH and the children cannot travel to Dubai. I realise that they have not been there recently but I am sure that is in large part due to the pandemic. It does mean that they have some catching up to do. Turning to the question of holidays in the UK, I allow the total claimed in full. The amount spent this summer on trips in the UK confirms that such breaks are expensive for this family. Dealing with the additional security costs, I allow each item as claimed, other than In-Country Logistics, which I assess at £1 million pa rather than £1,915,600. This means that the total budget for holidays is £5,115,544. This is to be found at Schedule E. Again, I do not intend to adjust this budget for the children being at boarding school or at University. 94. The next item is transport costs. I consider I have already dealt with this in other parts of the budget and make no separate allowance for car storage costs in London. I then turn to Leisure costs. HRH seeks £1,859,992 pa whereas HH responds with a figure of £698,500 pa. The first item is [item 1]. The claim is for £500,000 pa as against £250,000 pa. I have decided that the correct figure is £300,000 pa. I find it difficult to see how more than this could actually be spent. I have permitted the claim for [item 2] as I cannot see that HRH can be expected to go to the shops. Equally, it would be wrong for it all to be done online. I have allowed £30,000 pa. I have then allocated items to the various other heads as I consider appropriate. I cannot see that [item 3] could possibly amount to £133,000 pa. I have decided £50,000 pa should cover it. I accept that the children have been used to presentations and that the cost does seem extremely high, perhaps when the agents of [those] involved realise who is trying to book them. I have included £250,000 pa against the very high figure of £613,000 claimed. I have reduced many of the other items to a certain extent but I have not allowed [item 4], given their ages and the other provision made. The resulting total is £1,010,500 and is to be found at Schedule F. 95. The next schedule is animals. The total claimed is £673,306 pa, because it includes the purchase and running costs of horses. The counter proposal is £102,100 pa. I do, of course, accept that the children should have ponies to ride. The issue is the cost of these animals both to acquire them and to have them in livery. I am not convinced that the costs claimed are reasonable. I do not consider that these horses need to be expensive, although they must be safe to ride. I have allowed £25,000 pa for their acquisition; £75,000 pa for their livery and upkeep; and £25,000 pa for replacement horseboxes. I do not entirely understand the staff costs if I have allowed £75,000 pa for livery. I allow £50,000 pa for salaries and £25,000 pa for accommodation. I have reduced the other sums claimed to what I consider to be appropriate figures. I allow the costs for their pets as claimed. This makes a total budget of £277,050 pa and is in Schedule G. 96. The next schedule is Children’s staffing. The claim is for £644,876 pa. HH counters with an offer of £141,400. I cannot ignore the provision that has been available for these children over the years. I am of the view that the costs of the first nanny should be allowed in full. I cannot see the need for a second nanny given the ages of the children. I allow the nurse in full as she has always been available for the children. I have taken the view that I should allow the tutor’s expenses going forward at £100,000 pa together with accommodation at £33,800 pa. HRH is entitled to obtain any payment in excess of £100,000 pa from the education fund. In any event, the resulting total under this heading is £450,077 pa, which is included in Schedule H. The dispute in relation to the health care budget is very minor. HRH seeks £32,000 pa. HH offers £22,000. I allow the claim in full. 97. Finally, I turn to the two offices. HRH argues that the cost of her London office is £1,109,220 per annum, with a further £180,000 pa for professional fees, whereas her office in Amman costs £697,100 pa. I have no doubt that these figures are correct. The question, however, is the proportion of these amounts to be attributed to the children. HRH contends that 80% of these figures are due to the children. HH disagrees fundamentally and offers £40,000 pa in relation to London and nothing in relation to Amman. I am of the view that very little of the Amman Office relates to the children. I consider I should reverse the percentages and allow 20%, namely £139,400 pa. I accept that the costs of the London office relate to the children considerably more than the Amman office. I assess the proportions in London as being 50% for the children and 50% for HRH. I therefore allow the sum of £644,610 pa. The resulting total of all these items is £11,154,981 pa and is to be found in Schedule I. I round this up to £11,200,000 pa, which is £5,600,000 pa per child. It will be index-linked and tied to the Consumer Prices Index. The payments will be made as secured provision, the security being the HSBC bank guarantee. I decline to make any different assessment for Higher Education. It is too far ahead. Whilst in some cases, the provision might reduce at that point, I do not propose to do so in this case as I am concerned that many of the costs, such as those relating to the two properties, will continue regardless. The orders will be paid to HRH for the benefit of the children. When the children are in Higher Education, it will be up to HRH as to how she allocates the money for them. 98. I next turn to the question of backdating. I decline to order any backdating in relation to the security budget as I was told that Director 1 had worked within the figures provided, other than in relation to the costs of Company X. HRH will simply have to deal with the past costs of the company out of the other provision made for her. She is, however, undoubtedly entitled to backdating of the general maintenance in the sum of £11,200,000 pa other than in relation to the costs of travel and security as that travel budget has not been spent due to the pandemic, other than the provision I made in the summer. Even some of that was not spent. I have allocated £5,115,544 for travel and the security costs of that travel. If this is deducted from the maintenance awarded, the sum reduces to £6,084,456 pa or £507,038 per month. The date of the original application pursuant to Schedule 1 was 9 December 2019, some 24 months ago. However, the President made an order for £84,000 per month on 5 March 2020, some twenty months ago. I propose to backdate the order, less the travel expenses, to 9 December 2019 but with credit for payments made. The arrears would be in the order of £11,832,874 but with credit for payments made of £1,680,000. There will then be further credit for the money unspent in the summer amounting to £202,579 in relation to the holidays and £322,230 for the security for those holidays. Netting the various figures off against each another gives a total outstanding of £9,628,065. I am satisfied that this does not include any element of double counting.