State functions, public access and office space: the plans for revamped Buckingham Palace

Not all modern British monarchs have viewed the prospect of moving into Buckingham Palace with unalloyed joy. So in announcing he will never live there, after the completion of its £369m upgrade next year, King Charles has at least grasped that nettle. Queen Victoria was initially dismayed by the damp, dingy and disorganised building that greeted her and her husband, Prince Albert, in 1837. It was Albert who refashioned it into “Monarchy HQ”. After his death in 1861, Victoria retreated mainly to Windsor, Balmoral and Osborne House on the Isle of Wight. Previously, Queen Victoria’s uncle, William IV, had shown no love for it, staying instead in Clarence House – the very same royal residence round the corner on the Mall where Charles has chosen to live. William IV even tried to palm it off on parliament when the Palace of Westminster, which comprises the House of Commons and the House of Lords, burned down in 1834 – an offer swiftly rejected by MPs. Queen Elizabeth II, who also wanted to remain with Prince Philip in Clarence House, had to be firmly steered to Buckingham Palace by an uncompromising Winston Churchill, her first prime minister. Prince William, for his part, appears to share his father’s thoughts, letting it be known that he and Catherine, Princess of Wales, regard Forest Lodge, their Windsor mansion, as their “forever home”. …