<div><p>Prince Charles borrowed nearly 3,000 pounds from his protection officers after the royal found himself short of cash and needing to fork out for "travel expenses," a report said Wednesday.</p><p>The heir to the throne repaid the 2,744.34 pounds to his officers after they stumped up the money thought to be for flights abroad, according to the Independent.</p><p>The money was paid back by Clarence House in December 2007 and Scotland Yard cashed the cheque days later, the newspaper said, citing a document.</p><p>The previous month the prince and his wife Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, had visited Turkey and Uganda.</p><p>A spokeswoman for Scotland Yard said officers did occasionally lend VIPs they were protecting money, although she did not confirm the 2007 incident.</p><p>"On occasion, and if the need arises, protection officers will incur expenditure on behalf of principals, which are then repaid," the spokeswoman told the newspaper.</p><p>A spokeswoman for the prince would not comment on the matter.</p><p>Ken Wharfe, a former protection officer for Princess Diana, said it was commonplace among him and his former colleagues and that there was "nothing sinister about it".</p><p>"It is very rare for members of the Royal Family to carry cash or credit cards so protection officers paying for things is quite a normal practice," he was quoted by the paper saying.</p><p>"When I worked with the late Princess Diana I did this on numerous occasions for things like meals at restaurants to hotel bookings."</p><p>Government and taxpayer funds given to the prince reached three million pounds last year, according to Clarence House.</p><p>Charles' private income from the Duchy of Cornwall, the royal estate comprising agricultural, commercial and residential property, was 16.46 million pounds last year.</p><img src="http://admatch-syndication.mochila.com/images/ad.gif?aid=65075355&bid=informcom" /></div><div id="copyright"><div>

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