KING Charles is turning down the heating in a bid to save money and help the environment — as it emerged royal spending rocketed to £107.5million last year.

Palace finances revealed today blame soaring inflation and the cost-of-living crisis for a five per cent increase in expenditure.

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Royal bean-counters had to dip into savings — for the second year ­running — and take out £20.7million to finance the decade-long refurbishment of Buckingham Palace which still has three years left.

As the whole country reels from spiralling energy bills, accounts show the Royal Household forked out £2.7million on gas and electricity over the past year, up from £1.4million in the previous 12 months, even though consumption was down.

Thermostats in sprawling residences such as the 1,000-room, 953-year-old ­Windsor Castle are now being turned down to help lower bills and emissions.

Last year, The Sun revealed King Charles had installed a smart meter in Balmoral, with temperatures set at 19C in the winter and a few degrees lower in empty rooms.

The new monarch has also demanded that the heating gets turned down on the Buckingham Palace swimming pool.

The Palace insisted the move echoes the King’s long-standing eco-credentials which he has “reinforced to the Royal Household”.

A spokesman said that adjusting the temperatures in rooms, limiting heating at weekends, turning off gas lamps and lowering the heat in a swimming pool are “steps we can take”.

Accounts also show that payroll costs saw one of the biggest increases in 2022-23, rising £3.4million to £27.1million, with staff getting around a five to six per cent rise.

The assault on the royals’ Sovereign Grant reserves mean they are now down from last year’s £30.8million to £10.1million.

The £20.7million royal overspend is largely due to work at Buckingham Palace, which has now been going on for seven years.

A spokesman said no added taxpayer money will be requested to fund the redecoration bill.

The Palace blamed “inflationary pressures” which “have impacted on all organisations” for the rise in expenditure.

An additional factor was the merging of the late Queen Elizabeth’s household staff with the new monarchs’ team following her death.

Sir Michael Stevens, Keeper of the Privy Purse, said the past 12 months — including the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee and her passing, then the Coronation — had been “a year of grief, change and celebration, the like of which our nation has not ­witnessed for seven decades”.

Other figures reveal that spending on travel was down £600,000 to £3.9million, housekeeping and hospitality was up from £1.3million to £2.4million, and property maintenance fell £6.1million to £57.8million.

The Sovereign Grant — money paid to the royals from the Government — remained unchanged at £86.3million during 2022/23.

However, former Lib Dem MP and royal spending expert Norman Baker believes they get too much.

He said: “Whilst everyone else has tightened their belts, the Royal Family are ­living at the public’s expense. The money coming from these so-called reserves is because they’ve overclaimed in previous years, so they’re not really reserves.”

A government review of royal finances is due later this summer.

Meanwhile, the King met a member of Queen yesterday at an outer space sustainability event at Buckingham Palace.

Charles, 74, welcomed guests including rocker Sir Brian May, 75, and astronaut Major Tim Peake, 51, for the launch of the Astra Carta initiative.

King Charles and Queen Camilla plan to move into Buckingham Palace when its refurbishment project is finished in three years.