Buckingham Palace. Refurbishment , Why not flog off another to pay for it.?

If you were to have more than one home and were unfortunately lose your job amd tried to claim benefit. You would illegible and advised to sell one or rent one of them and live of these earnings.

So why can't a similar criteria be give to the news that Buckingham Palace is to undergo extensive renovations costing £369m, partly funded by the taxpayer.?

A ten-year programme of works will commence next April and replace ageing facilities, including those presenting a fire risk to the 300-year-old palace.


The move will be funded by a temporary increase in the Sovereign Grant, the amount of money awarded by the government to the crown estate.


The grant will be lifted from 15% to 25% of crown estate net income, from £43m to £76m.


This was recommended by the Royal Trustees, who include the Prime Minister Theresa May and Chancellor Phillip Hammond.


The Crown Estate is a collection of lands and holdings in the United Kingdom belonging to the British monarch as a corporation sole, making it the "Sovereign's public estate", which is neither government property nor part of the monarch's private estate.As a result of this arrangement, the sovereign is not involved with the management or administration of the estate, exercising only very limited control of its affairs.


Historically, Crown Estate properties were administered by the reigning monarch to help fund the business of governing the country. However, in 1760, George II Isurrendered control over the Estate's revenues to the treasury,thus relieving him of the responsibility of personally paying for the costs of the civil service, defense costs, the national debt, and his own personal debts. In return, he received an annual grant known as the Civil List. By tradition, each subsequent monarch agreed to this arrangement upon his or her accession. However, from 1 April 2012, under the terms of the Sovereign Grant Act 2011 (SSG), the Civil List was abolished and the monarch was thenceforth provided with a stable source of revenue indexed to a percentage of the Crown Estate's annual net revenue (currently set at 15%). This was intended to provide a long-term solution and remove the politically sensitive issue of Parliament having to debate the Civil List allowance every ten years. Subsequently, the Sovereign Grant Act allows for all future monarchs to simply extend these provisions for their reigns by Order in Council. The act does not imply any legal change on the nature of the estate's ownership, but is simply a benchmark by which the sovereign grant is set as a grant by Parliament


I hope thats clear who owns them if so maybe you could tell me but I wonder how many of the Crown Estates could be sold to pay for this refurbishment.


Anyway here are the current Residences of Mr and Mrs Winsor you can where the rest of her family live here.

Or maybe the Queen could sell one of her own homes  which she hardly owns

Residence	Location	Notes
The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh
Crown Estate[edit]
Buckingham Palace	London, England	Official London residence (Monday to Friday)
Windsor Castle	Windsor, Berkshire, England	Official country residence (Most weekends; a month over Easter; a week in June for Royal Ascot and the service of the Order of the Garter); and Christmas.
Palace of Holyroodhouse	Edinburgh, Scotland	Official Scottish residence (Whenever the Royal Family undertake official duties in Scotland: primarily Holyrood week in July)
Hillsborough Castle	County Down, Northern Ireland	Official residence in Northern Ireland (whenever the Royal Family undertake official duties in Northern Ireland)[3]
Private[edit]
inherited from the current Queen's father
Sandringham House	Sandringham, Norfolk, England	Christmas until February
Balmoral Castle	Aberdeenshire, Scotland	August and September
Craigowan Lodge	Balmoral, Aberdeenshire
Delnadamph Lodge	Balmoral, Aberdeenshire	Being rebuilt for the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall; located on the estate of Balmoral Castle

It may say Private but it is the Taxpayer who actually pays for its upkeep.

Before a penny is paid on Buckingham Palace then we should demand an audit of all the Royal Residences and how much they are used 

How much do Tax Payers pay for Sandringham which seems to be used for leds than Two Months a Year?

Where is the Tax Payers Alliance over this? They are quick to jump on any claims of government waste.

I am not against the preservation of any Historic building but if this  so then the Public should have total access to see them.

Personally I see no reason for Head of State of the UK  to have no more than two official residences 

The US President seems roo manage with  the White House, Camp David, the mountain-based military camp in Frederick County, Maryland, used as a country retreat and for high-alert protection of Presidents and their guests. and  during their term of office, many Presidents have owned or leased vacation homes in various parts of the country, which are often called by journalists the "Western White House," depending on location or season.

Yet we pay a fortune for the upkeep of eight Royal Palaces for the use of the Monarch alone , not mentioning those inhabited by her offspring.

I'm sure there's many a Russian Oligarch who would love to but one of the london palaces and pay far more than the cost of refurbishment of Buckingham Palace.