According to the annual review for Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall, the king-in-waiting managed to slash his income tax bill by 5,000 pounds after some astute accounting, The Daily Telegraph reported.

Last year, his income soared by 1.1 million pounds to 16.3 million pounds. Sir Michael Peat, the Prince's Private Secretary, said the reduction was caused by higher expenses and costs involved in the official and charitable duties of Charles.

The additional expenses included two extra members of staff to work full-time for Prince William, the second-in-line to the British throne, and his brother Prince Harry as their charity work continues to expand.

However, the annual report revealed that the cost of the Prince Charles' official travel by air and rail fell 22 per cent from 1.4 million pounds to 1.1 million pounds.

The reduction helped cut the carbon footprint of the Prince's household by 18 per cent last year after a switch to green electricity supplies -- a slash aided by converting his sports car to run on by-products of wine industries.

The accounts also showed that the Prince's business has thrived despite the credit crunch because of earnings derived from commercial and agricultural property.

According to the report, the Prince of Wales has been a direct beneficiary of the sharply rising cost of food. In fact, the increase was "almost entirely due to the greatest annual growth in the value of agricultural land for 25 years".

"The investor's appetite for farmland follows the continued demand from lifestyle farmers but now combined with the fact food prices have reached an all time high and that there is a limited supply of land currently available on the marketplace," the review said.