King frees up Buckingham Palace for more public visits

THE King plans to give the public greater access to Buckingham Palace all year round as members of the Royal family vacate residences, The Daily Telegraph understands.

His Majesty is also keen to “repurpose” the historic buildings following the death of Queen Elizabeth II.

It raises the prospect that large parts of Buckingham Palace or Sandringham, for example, could be remodelled in the vein of Dumfries House, the King’s 18th century mansion in Ayrshire, which is used as a base for his own charitable foundation and hosts educational courses and training programmes.

It comes after it emerged that the Duke of York was told he could no longer use his private apartments at Buckingham Palace. His possessions were moved out of his suite of rooms because of ongoing renovation work but he was told that he could not return.

A palace source said that work was under way to make Buckingham Palace ready for the King and Queen Consort in due course.

Meanwhile, the couple have indicated that they would prefer to keep Clarence House as their main residence, leaving the palace largely unoccupied. Around 500,000 people visit Buckingham Palace each year, with the state rooms open from July to Sept. There are otherwise exclusive guided tours offered at limited times from Friday to Sunday during the winter months.

Since the death of Queen Elizabeth II, Windsor Castle, which like Buckingham Palace is held in trust by the monarch for the nation, has been left unoccupied and is likely to remain so for the foreseeable future.

The Prince and Princess of Wales are said to feel settled at Adelaide Cottage, the 19th century property they moved into with their three children last summer, and have no desire to move into the neighbouring castle.

Unlike other royal residences, Windsor Castle is open to the public all year round and as such, enjoys the greatest footfall, with about 1.6 million annual visitors pre-covid. Sandringham and Balmoral, both of which are privately owned by the King, are only open to the public from April to October.

The King is acutely aware of the cost of living crisis and has indicated that he wants his reign to be as inclusive as possible for multicultural Britain.