The King and Queen announced yesterday that they will not return to live in Buckingham Palace, despite £369million of ongoing renovations, ending around two centuries of royal tradition.
The 10-year-long reservicing programme is due to conclude next year, focusing on essential plumbing, electrical cabling and heating, which had not been updated since shortly after World War Two.
The astonishing sum of public money to refurbish the so-called “Monarchy HQ” had been justified because the monarch and his wife were expected to move back into the iconic residence.
However, King Charles and Queen Camilla will instead remain at Clarence House, on The Mall in London, next to St James’s Palace.
With the Prince and Princess of Wales making it abundantly clear that eight-bedroom Forest Lodge is their “forever home,” it seems unlikely that a royal will ever permanently return to Buckingham Palace – ending 200 years of British royal tradition.
The Palace, then referred to as Buckingham House, was first purchased by King George III for his wife Queen Charlotte in 1761, with it later becoming known as the Queen’s House.
Skip forward to 1826, and King George IV had ordered the reconstruction of the House and intended to transform it into a palace.
But it wasn’t until Queen Victoria in 1837 that a monarch actually moved into the now iconic residence, just three weeks after her accession. She became the first sovereign to travel to her coronation from the Palace.
The King and Queen announced yesterday that they will not return to live in Buckingham Palace, despite £369million ongoing renovations, ending around two centuries of royal tradition
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Queen Victoria also made the first recorded royal balcony appearance in 1851 during celebrations for the opening of the Great Exhibition; the start of an iconic Royal Family tradition.
And while she did not live in the Palace until she died in 1901, as she found it too painful to spend time there following the death of her beloved husband, Prince Albert, she did begin the trend of monarchs permanently residing there.
In the following years, King Edward VII, King George V and King George VI (Queen Elizabeth II’s father) all lived at the Palace.
Buckingham Palace balcony appearances have become an iconic tradition
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The exception to the rule was King Edward VIII, who did not like Buckingham Palace and refused to live there during his 11-month reign.
Under Queen Elizabeth II, the Palace remained the working headquarters of the monarchy and private residence until her final overnight stay on March 18, 2020, when she moved to Windsor Castle ahead of the Covid-19 lockdown.
The Palace underwent the extensive reservicing programme in 2017, to “avoid the very real danger of catastrophic failure leading to fire or flood”.
The works reach their conclusion next year, but while King Charles announces the end of the monarch’s residence there, officials insist it will remain a “buzzing hive” of royal activity.
A spokesman for the King told GB News: “The Palace will continue in every traditional way to be the beating heart of the Monarchy, just not its resting head.
“It will be a buzzing hive of royal activity in every other way. His Majesty retains huge affection for Buckingham Palace and a deep respect for its role in royal and public life.
“It will remain a working home, but we are seeking to widen public access precisely to maximise the national benefit of a publicly-funded building.”
It is understood King Charles would rather the Palace be used for “greater public good, rather than greater private benefit”.