No state visits for 3 years whereas Buckingham Palace goes via £369M refurbishment
Buckingham Palace is closing its doors to state visits for the next three years as the historic palace undergoes a mammoth £369 refurbishment.
The Emir of Qatar will still be hosted at the palace when he visits next month, but after that all other state visits will be hosted at Windsor Castle until 2027.
Renovations began in 2017 with a focus on replacing ageing cabling and plumbing that had not been updated since the 1950s and was at risk of causing ‘catastrophic fire or flooding’.
It is understood that continuing works have meant the King has now moved his private office space in the north wing – which is being redecorated at the monarch’s personal expense – to the Belgian Suite on the ground floor of the palace’s west-facing Garden Wing.
The north wing space he formerly occupied was used by the late Queen Elizabeth II as her private apartment.
His new surroundings now include the Orleans Room, where the King was born on November 14, 1948.
A friend of the King told The Times: ‘He is always aware of the significance of history, and the decision to be based in the Orleans Room won’t have been taken without half a smile.
‘The King will enjoy the symmetry of discharging his duties as monarch in the room where he was born.’
Buckingham Palace is closing its doors to state visits for the next three years as the historic palace undergoes a mammoth £369 refurbishment
After next month, all state visits will be hosted at Windsor Castle until 2027
King Charles III and Queen Camilla wave and smile as they formally bid farewell to Emperor Naruhito and his wife Empress Masako of Japan in June
Work on the East Wing – which faces the Mall where crowds assemble on major royal occasions like Trooping the Colour and features the famous central balcony – started in 2018 and was completed earlier this year.
To replace the dangerous cables, thousands of floorboards were individually taken up and marked with a number, with each detail recorded in an intricate map.
When the wiring was replaced, each floorboard was put back in its original place ‘like a giant jigsaw’.
Deadly asbestos that lurked in ‘the internal surfaces’ of several rooms in the East Wing was also eradicated through ‘abrasive brickwork cleaning’.
Apprentices of all ages – some straight out of school and others who retrained from different professions – have been brought in to help restore the Grade One-listed building.
Visitors were able to access areas that had traditionally been closed to the public in the East Wing for the first time in July – including the famous royal balcony.
A whopping 6,000 tickets were snapped up in a matter of hours when they went on sale earlier this year.
The full reservicing programme of the palace, funded through the taxpayer-funded sovereign grant, will not be completed until 2027.
Work on the East Wing, which faces the Mall where crowds assemble on major royal occasions like Trooping the Colour and features the famous central balcony, started in 2018. Above: The Yellow Drawing Room during the refurbishment
The hidden quarters of the East Wing will be open to the public for the first time after 6,000 tickets were snapped up in a matter of hours when they went on sale earlier this year. Above: The Yellow Drawing Room earlier this year, after the refurbishments had been completed
Work on the East Wing – which faces the Mall where crowds assemble on major royal occasions like Trooping the Colour and features the famous central balcony – started in 2018 and was completed earlier this year
Building work will temporarily ‘pause’ to allow tourists into Buckingham Palace’s state rooms during the summer months.
No fewer than 236 planning applications have been submitted since 2017 as work continues to make the palace ‘fit for generations to come’.
An MoS audit of these applications found that 19th century servants’ bedrooms are being replaced with an airy ‘central collaboration space’ for the 300 office staff that work behind the palace walls.
A ‘gloomy and underused’ computer suite will also be replaced with a modern conference room, IT training room and an open-plan office.
In the palace gardens, dozens of cherry trees and silver birches have been chopped down to allow more natural light and ‘encourage regenerative growth’ of other plants.
