The Royal bill: Yukon paid $429K for Will and Kate's sleepover

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge's overnight visit toYukon last September brought some excitementand attention to the territory, but for a price $429,286.

That was Yukon's share of the bill, mainly covering entertainment, transportation and catering costs for William and Kate's two-day visit to Whitehorse and Carcross. It also covered some costs associated with two advance trips to Yukon by representatives from Kensington Palace and the federal government.

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Other expenses from the actual visit such assecurity and the Royals' Whitehorse hotel room were covered by Ottawa.

"To put on something of this scale, it does cost money," said Erin Loxam, of the Yukon's government's executive council office.

"They could have come up here for two days and stayed in a lodge outside of town, seen some Northern lights, and then left on their merry way. But it wouldn't have given that great opportunity for so many Yukoners to actually see them."

The Royals were in Yukon for about 24 hours, and attended in a number of public events, including a welcoming concert, a street festival in Whitehorse, and a cultural showcase in Carcross.

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Crowd control and kettle corn

The most expensive item on Yukon's bill was the hour-long "showcase" performance put on by local musicians, to greet the Royals on the evening of their arrival. It cost $122,000 (plus another $18,612 to rent the Kwanlin Dn Cultural Centre)

Other big expenses included crowd control and traffic fencing for public events in Carcross and Whitehorse ($70,949), equipment and network support for a media centre ($55,673), and a helicopter charter between Whitehorse and Carcross ($21,750).

Thegovernment also spent$646 on umbrellas (plus $192 to ship those umbrellas), $1711 on flags, $791on helium balloons, and $800 on kettle corn at the Whitehorse street festival.

"Of that total cost, over 85 per cent of it went to local businesses," Loxam said.

"And even the other 15 per cent, a lot of that used local equipment, local contractors, so a lot of the money stayed in the territory, with Yukoners."

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Loxamsays 120 Yukon government employees were involved in some way, either volunteering or working to organize the visit.

She believes the visit was definitely worth the expense. She says over half the media personnel that rolled into town were from outside Canada, so Yukon enjoyed some good international exposure.

It also meant a lot toYukonerswereable to see and meet the popular Royal couple, Loxamsays.

"It was a once in a lifetime chance for a lot of people."