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The end of the 'Kate effect': Queen counts the cost after rise in visitors to palaces sparked by royal wedding comes to an end

By Sebastian Shakespeare for the Daily Mail

Published: 19:11 EST, 3 August 2015 | Updated: 01:17 EST, 4 August 2015

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When Kate Middleton married Prince William, she brought with her a huge wave of public interest in the Royal Family, and gave the Palace finances a massive boost.

Sadly, the ‘Kate effect’ now appears to be wearing off.

The latest accounts show a drastic decline in visitors to royal residences this year, with the total number of tourists passing through the gates falling by more than 80,000 from the previous year’s 2.55 million. It seems the 'Kate' effect (pictured above marrying Prince William at Westminster Abbey in 2011) is now wearing off

Kate and William share a kiss at the Royal wedding - Archive

Accounts filed at Companies House by Royal Collection Enterprises, which provides the Palace with income from visits and merchandising, show that operating profits slumped by 24 per cent last year. They were £6.9 million in 2014, but fell to £5.2 million in the year up to March 31, 2015, a drop of £1.7 million. Visitor numbers to Buckingham Palace fell by 60,000, or 11 per cent, from the previous year.

Merchandise sales were down 19 per cent, with commemorative china hit particularly badly.

The striking figures led the directors, who include Sir Alan Reid, the Queen’s Keeper of the Privy Purse, to warn about the company’s future.

Listed as ‘principal risks and uncertainties’ are ‘a significant reduction in visitor numbers, failure to engage with the public or develop new audiences and a decline in commercial appeal of retail merchandise’.

And the situation could get worse. Palace officials warned last month that the Queen might be forced to move out of Buckingham Palace for urgent building repairs, which could force its closure to the public for at least one summer season, meaning a huge loss of income for the Royal Collection, which looks after its priceless artefacts.

Kate’s wedding dress helped raise £10 million in ticket sales as record numbers of visitors paid to see it at Buckingham Palace. That contributed a huge increase in income, up from £41.7 million in 2010 to £50.2 million in 2011. This year it was down to £40.7 million. Royal Wedding souvenirs boosted the coffers by almost £4 million.

A spokesman for the Royal Collection Trust said ‘the decrease is largely due to the absence of a special royal event’, pointing out that the Royal Wedding had been followed by the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee and then the 60th anniversary of the Coronation.

Donna makes a splash on her birthday without James

Courted by the Duchess of Cambridge’s brother, James Middleton, for the past two-and-a-half years, Donna Air is ready to take the plunge — into the Atlantic, that is.

The former Byker Grove star celebrated her 36th birthday at the weekend with a trip to the Bahamas. ‘It’s my birthday and I’m a very happy girl,’ declares Donna, who told me last month she had become a connoisseur of truffles and often fed them to her bearded boyfriend.

In the water, she maintained standards, teaming gold bracelets and a pearl pendant with her red bikini (right).

Curiously, however, James was nowhere to be seen.

Former Byker Grove star Donna Air celebrated her 36th birthday at the weekend with a trip to the Bahamas

Jeremy Irons talks compost in anti-materialist sermon

Jeremy Irons has made a fortune from Hollywood blockbusters and appearances in lucrative ads for luxury goods firms such as Berluti shoes.

However, the 66-year-old pal of Prince Charles is keen that others should not be materialistic. ‘What we really need to do is to change our lives,’ declares Irons, who counts a castle in Ireland among his homes.

‘To realise that “things” don’t make us happy, that spending isn’t a solution. We have to find a way of running a burgeoning economy without so much buying of things. In this country, we could lead the world.’

He goes on: ‘I’m proud that all my cars are over 12 years old, although “all my cars” shows that I have more than one. Nevertheless, I get joy from repairing, I get joy from repairing clothes, I get joy from composting, spreading that on the garden and watching it help stuff grow.’

Give that man an Oscar for cant.

Princess Michael of Kent is all set to publish the final instalment of her fictional trilogy about European royals, but her husband is able to contain his excitement.

‘I don’t read much, but when I do read, it’s usually biographies,’ Prince Michael, a cousin of the Queen, tells me at a party in Mayfair. ‘I don’t enjoy fiction — though my wife probably wouldn’t like to hear that.’

Your secret is safe with me . . .