THE City of Edinburgh Council has asked the UK Treasury for more than £500,000 to cover the costs of events to mark the Queens's death.
The city played a major role in the days following the late monarch's death in September.
The late Queen's coffin was transported from Balmoral to St Giles' Cathedral where she lay at rest for 24 hours.
It saw the city incur costs for extra street cleaning, traffic management and stewarding as thousands filed past.
Much of the cost was borne by the Scottish Government but council funds were also used to help plan for the proclamation of King Charles III and to show the Queen's funeral on a big screen in Holyrood Park.
About 33,000 queued to pay their respects to the late monarch before her coffin was flown to RAF Northolt, near London, ahead of the funeral.
READ MORE: Greta Thunberg reaches out to Edinburgh students who blocked film screening
Officials said the total cost of Operation Unicorn to the council was £608,998.
This includes an estimated £42,000 in lost parking income between 8-15 September.
A report said it would not be possible to claim this sum back from the UK Government, but the remaining £566,998 has been requested from the Treasury.
City of Edinburgh Council said it was awaiting a formal response.
Councillor Alys Mumford, co-convenor of Edinburgh Greens, originally asked for information on the costs to the council of Operation Unicorn.
She said: "It's good to finally get some information on the cost of Operation Unicorn to our city, and on how much of this burden must be borne by the council.
"We look forward to further detail about how much the council will be expected to pay towards future royal events, so we can have an open and informed discussion about whether this is a spending priority while the majority of our citizens experience a cost of living crisis.
"And while we welcome the information on costs, we're concerned the report doesn't grasp the negative impact of Operation Unicorn on citizens beyond mild inconvenience: during the period of the mourning schools were closed, bus routes diverted, and peaceful protest was suppressed.
"These are all impacts of decisions made at the time, and the council should acknowledge this and do much better in future."
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel