Queen ‘faces Buckingham Palace move to allow for repairs’
24 June 2015
From the section UK
Buckingham Palace is the Queen’s official London home
The Queen may have to move out of Buckingham Palace to allow maintenance work costing £150m to be carried out.
It is one option being considered by the royal household, which says the upkeep of the London palace is now a “significant financial challenge”.
It needs new plumbing and wiring and has not been decorated since 1952, the year the Queen ascended the throne.
The news comes as royal accounts show that the monarchy cost the taxpayer £35.7m for the second year running.
The figure, for the 2014/15 financial year, is the equivalent of 56p for each person in the country.
The accounts show that almost half of the annual sovereign grant – the system of finance given from the public purse to support the official duties of the monarchy – was spent on payroll costs.
Property maintenance dipped from £13.3m in 2013/14 to £11.7m, with a surplus of £2.2m transferred to reserves to help meet the future cost of work on Buckingham Palace.
The Queen, who is 89, spends a third of the year hosting events at what is her official London home.
The monarchy cost the taxpayer £35.7m for the second year running
Sir Alan Reid, keeper of …read more
Source:: BBC UK
