‘Let me know where you would like me to go’: ‘Immensely pragmatic’ Queen will be forced to leave her rooms in Buckingham Palace when she is 99 as part of the £369m 10-year revamp
- Tony Johnstone-Burt said there will be no overspending on Buckingham Palace
- The revamp has seen over 3,000 metres of dangerous vulcanised rubber cabling ripped out in a bid to ward off a potentially ‘catastrophic’ building failure
- The Queen is said to be ‘immensely pragmatic’ while accommodating the works
- Builders are working on the East wing while the Queen lives in the North wing
Her Majesty The Queen has been praised for her accommodation of works at Buckingham Palace which will see her shifted from her room in the North Wing, aged 99.
The monarch is said to be ‘immensely pragmatic’ and is happy to move wherever is most appropriate when works begin on the wing containing her rooms, between 2025 and 2027.
The ten year long palace refurbishment project launched last year is being carried out after fire risk was pointed out.
It will cost the taxpayer millions as the total price for works is expected to reach £369million.
The works, which started in Spring last year, have seen over 3,000 metres of dangerous vulcanised rubber cabling ripped out in a bid to ward off a potentially ‘catastrophic’ building failure.
But the Queen is not phased by the upheaval, it is being claimed.
Renovations began in April 2017 and will continue until 2027 after experts warned there was a serious fire risk to Buckingham Palace (pictured)
More than 3,000 items in the Royal Collection are being moved from the East Wing of Buckingham Palace as part of a £369 million refurbishment
‘The Queen is immensely pragmatic and she wants to stay in the palace,’ a senior royal official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told reporters.
‘She said let me know where you would like me to go.’
Workers have already begun decanting the East wing, with some of the 3,000 item in the Royal Collection being moved to elsewhere in the palace, other venues across the country and storage.
Towards the end of the works, the 92-year-old monarch and her husband Philip, 97, will have to move out of their apartments in the palace’s north wing for about two years.
The master of the Queen’s household overseeing the £369 million refurbishment of Buckingham Palace has vowed to stay within budget and time on the gigantic project.
The Yellow Drawing Room in Buckingham Palace pre-reservicing. This is one of the rooms currently impacted by the works
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Tony Johnstone-Burt said he took the responsibility of handling public money ‘extremely seriously’ and was ‘absolutely convinced’ that the 10-year phased works would reap both short and long-term benefits.
Mr Johnstone-Burt said: ‘We all take the responsibility that comes with using public funds to do all this work on such a national icon like Buckingham Palace extremely seriously indeed. on time, within budget and to the required specification.
‘I am absolutely convinced that by making this investment in the palace now, will not only avert much more costly and potentially catastrophic failure of the building in the years to come, but in the short term… will provide the opp for even more people to see this remarkable collection.
Next week, a compound for builders will be erected on the forecourt of the palace as work starts on the famous east wing, the public facade which houses the balcony on which Queen Elizabeth and her family appear for significant events.
Specialist electricians are working on replacing some of the oldest (VIR) electrical cables in Buckingham Palace
The Queen is said to be taking the huge refurbishment works to her home in her stride- despite knowing she will be forced to move from the North Wing aged 99
The palace will remain fully open for state visits and other regular events during the overhaul and its outward appearance will be unaffected as there will be no scaffolding.
Buckingham Palace was originally a large house built in 1703 and was acquired by King George III in 1761. It was extended in the reign of Queen Victoria while the front was refaced in 1914 when George V was king.
A senior royal official said there had been a significant contingency put aside to make sure the budget is not exceeded.
If at the end of the ten year programme, they are under budget, the Treasury would be entitled to take the remaining funds back, he said.
The Queen will not have to move out while the work is completed, but she is likely to have to change bedrooms at some point.
Dozens of the Queen’s staff will be put up in Portacabins on the palace lawn while work is completed.
Renovation work hopes to bring the palace up to scratch and ensure that it is fit for purpose for the next 50 years.
The renovation work is a huge task as the palace has 775 rooms, 1,514 doors and 760 windows, alongside a hundred miles of electrical cabling.
The Sovereign Grant, which comes from general taxation, will be hiked up during renovation period to cover the costs.
The Queen currently gets an amount which is equivalent to 15 per cent of the profits from the Crown Estate, but this will increase to 25 per cent.
Previously the Master of The Queen’s Household Tony Johnstone-Burt 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.’
The Chinese Dining Room in Buckingham Palace is one of the rooms which is now being emptied out for works to take place
Electric cables are being carefully taken out and replaced over fire fears in the London palace
The cables are being carefully extracted and replaced throughout the Palace – a project which will take around ten years in total
More than 3,000 metres of dangerous vulcanised rubber cabling must be replaced throughout the palace
The Principal Corridor in Buckingham Palace must also be carefully dismantled and moved so works can be done on the cabling
It is estimated that the benefits of the upgrade, including longer summer opening hours, more private tours and savings due to the improvements, could be around £3.4 million each year.
The Queen spends around a third of the year hosting garden parties, receptions, investitures and other events at her official home.
She hosts more than 38,000 guests per year at garden parties, and hands out 15,000 awards in ceremonies held at the palace which was acquired by King George III in 1761.
It is hoped that renovations works will also be able to make the palace more environmentally friendly by replacing boilers and reducing its carbon footprint by as much as 10 per cent.
The Prince of Wales is said to be ‘fully engaged’ with the project while the Duke of Edinburgh is also keeping a close eye on developments, having formerly been involved in the reservicing of Windsor Castle in 1992.
The senior royal official said palace life would remain ‘business as usual’, with the historic ceremonies such as the Changing of the Guard continuing.
Two lifts are to be installed to improve access to visitors with mobility problems.
Workers will tackle three of the wings in clockwise, starting with the East, which has 200 rooms spread over six floors.
Some 3,000 Royal Collection items, including 200+ paintings, 40 chandeliers, 1,000 glass and china pieces and 100 mirrors, will be removed before wiring and pipes are replaced.
Some 150 items of decorative arts and furniture will return on loan to the Brighton Pavillion, where they were acquired by George IV in the early 1800s.
The West wing, where ceremonial duties, state visits and investitures are held, will be tackled ‘incrementally’ to try and keep it fully operational.
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