Poll: Buckingham Palace Now Wants A Refurb

Would you donate towards the upkeep of Buckingham Palace?


  • Total voters
    328
Wouldn't this just come from the revenues of the Crown Estate? They made a few hundred million profit last year, IIRC.

15% of crown estate profits, Sovereign Grant formula.

So it seems as though the crown estates fund the Queen, of course that money would go to the public purse if not funding the Queen. The Queen generates tourism which most likely puts more than the grant given back into the country.
 
When King William moves in he might want to change the decoration yet again :)

Sounds like its more structural then actual aesthetics.

I don't mind, massive old properties like this will naturally cost a lot to renovate given the skilled labour that is involved.
Better that then see it becoming eventually a health hazard/derelict.
 
Kinda like a living museum then, where the exhibits haven't been stuffed and put on display yet.

However I may loathe the royals, I can't be a hypocrite about it TBH, museums and national monuments get refurbed regularly on the continent (Louvres, Eiffel Tower, some random posh castle).

So yeah, whatever. In France, we have a whole ministry dedicated to supporting culture, historical monuments and art. That kind of thing would probably fall within their jurisdiction, and no one would bat an eyelid.

People always look at the number and gasp, think that kind of money would be put to better use. Well, if you can't even afford a bit of cultural identity, you really have some more serious s*** to worry about.
 
I try and look beyond The Royal Family. Buckingham Palace is a national landmark really, and pulls in thousands upon thousands of tourists and domestic visitors over any given year - even more so when parades like Trooping the Colour are on.

I don't really see it as the Queen getting a refurbished house. I see it more like maintaining a national icon, and allowing it to continue bringing in tourists and visitors long after HRH is dead and buried.

It's not even owned by the royal family anyway. It's essentially the official residence of the head of state... Much like the White House (for example).
 
I wonder how much VAT the government has accrued (less what they've spent on there own expenses of course) on the sale of royal paraphernalia like: post cards, mugs, tatty T shirts etc? Surely there's enough to give the palace a make-over?

Of course there are still thousands of East European (EU of course) painters & decorators just waiting for the call.
 
It's a gigantic building that happens to be hugely iconic.

If you slack off on repairs for decades this is the kind of bill you end up with.

Go ask how much repairs cost on comparable national icons in other countries. It's never cheap.
 
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