R2OK!

mark occomore · Joined: 07 Dec 2006 Posts: 9955 Location: UK

Buckingham Palace is in need of £3m over the next three years to repair crumbling walls.

The monarch's official London home since 1837 was cited as an example of the work needed to make some of the royal palaces safe.

Details of the repairs were revealed in the Queen's annual public accounts, which show the royals cost £37.3m last year - 0.3% less than in 2005-6.

Anti-monarchy group Republic said the real figure was £150m, not £37.3m.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6250432.stm

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Anyway I suppose we will have to pay for this from our taxes? Or maybe the royal family should club together and pay for it? Laughing

Oh dear maybe she will have to move into a normal town house Laughing

RockitRon · Joined: 07 Dec 2006 Posts: 7646

Curious that that BBC article, which gives much room to the cost of the monarchy and the Republic group's comments, doesn't mention that the Royal Family does not actually own Buckingham Palace - it is a public building like many others in central London.

It would be very surprising if any building of that size built 170 years ago didn't require substantial ongoing maintenance and repair, and I would have thought £3M is probably both peanuts in the whole scheme of things, and also understates what is really required to be spent.

Buck House is a major tourist attraction and tourists add rather more than that to the economy of London and the UK. In recent years we have seen major refurbishment of Nelson's Column and the buildings along Whitehall, so I don't see the big deal about spending a little to stop lumps falling off the roof onto the guardsmen or Royal Rolls below.
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Ron

gfloyd · Posted: Fri Jun 29, 2007 11:05 am Post subject:

£3m sounds cheap. You wouldnt get builders to do much for that in Central London these days.
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His name was ernie ........ and he drove the fastest milk cart in the west.....