It has just been announced by the Treasury that Buckingham Place will undergo a 10-year refurbishment costing the UK taxpayer £369m.
The work, which will begin next April, will be the largest refurbishment Buckingham Palace has been subject to in recent time. The Queen will remain in residence during the work – but will have to move bedrooms.
The work id being carried out because of aging cables, lead pipes, wiring and boilers that are of a substantial fire risk owing to their age. The government, nor indeed anybody, wants a repeat of the 1992 fire that gutted Windsor Castle.
The Master of the Queen’s Household, Tony Johnstone-Burt, said that the refurbishment work has taken into account the best value for money.
He said: “We take the responsibility that comes with receiving these public funds extremely seriously indeed; equally, we are convinced that by making this investment in Buckingham Palace now we can avert a much more costly and potentially catastrophic building failure in the years to come.”
Members of the Royal Family, including The Queen, The Duke of Edinburgh and Prince of Wales are “completely supportive” of the renovations according to officials.
Despite the hefty costs, it is thought once the refurbishments are completed, much more money will be generated into the British economy. This would be through longer summer opening hours, more private tours and savings from maintenance work the palace currently has to spend.
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