Two €30 Dunnes cushions for Prince Charles and Camilla to sit on among council's €10k spend

Waterford council said cushions were a request of the British Embassy

Prince Charles and Camilla in Waterford City in March. Picture: Julien Behal 

A local authority spent more than €10,000 on a reception for Prince Charles and Camilla, including €30 on two Dunnes Stores cushions so the royal couple would know where to sit.

The Dunnes Stores cushions have since found a new home after being auctioned off for €150 at the Mayor’s Charity Ball to help raise money for charity.

Waterford City and County Council also splashed out on calligraphy, an illustrator, and €500 on a floral arrangement for the visit. A log of costs reveals that €4,000 was paid to the Spraoi group for a performance and installation at Bailey New Street to entertain the royals.

Another €712 was spent on two special handmade clamshell boxes for presentation to Prince Charles and Camilla. The boxes were covered in “archival book cloth” and designed to hold books and parchments and were decorated with custom-made plates with the Waterford city logo.

The council paid €195 to a specialist calligrapher to design and write out a dedication page for the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall. It was made using Japanese ink and gold leaf on handmade paper, according to an invoice that was submitted to the local authority.

There was a €602 bill for the hire of tables and covers for a reception in honour of the visiting dignitaries. Another €676.50 was spent on renting audio-visual equipment to wire up the venue for sound.

Catering costs — provided by the Bishop’s Palace Café in the city — came to €2,767.50 and provided food and drink for 100 invited guests.

A floral arrangement cost €500, while €115 was paid to the gifted illustrator Eddie O’Keeffe for creating artwork for use as part of the event.

The invoices also included the €30 bill from Dunnes Stores for two cushions and €369 for the installation of a stage for one of the performances.

A payment of €300 was also made to Déise Medieval for a Viking re-enactment that formed part of the celebrations in late March.

The visit to Waterford was part of a four-day visit to Ireland where Prince Charles and Camilla first visited Tyrone and Belfast.

A spokeswoman for Waterford council said during the visit the royals had visited Reginald’s Tower, the Medieval Museum, and City Hall, as well as meeting with emergency and frontline workers, and members of the local Ukrainian community.

She said: “The visit was covered extensively by local, national, and international media outlets … generating significant exposure for Waterford, Ireland’s oldest city and its environs.

“In relation to protocol regarding all royal visits, the cushions were a request of the British Embassy to clearly identify the seating arrangements for the royal couple during the reception.”