Buckingham Palace to get £369million modernisation works
 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-38025513

Discuss ...

Re: Buckingham Palace to get £369million modernisation works
 

Sounds like she needs to downsize? :) How many bathrooms does an old lady need ..

Re: Buckingham Palace to get £369million modernisation works
 

At her age she need one close by at all times I suspect. ;)

Re: Buckingham Palace to get £369million modernisation works
 

IMO the Monarchy is one of the greatest assets this country has as it brings far more into this country in terms of prestige and money into the UK economy then we actually spend on the Royal Family so in my opinion modernising Buckingham Palace will be money well spent IMO.

Re: Buckingham Palace to get £369million modernisation works
 

Fair enough. Pretty iconic landmark and tourist attraction.

Re: Buckingham Palace to get £369million modernisation works
 

:clap::clap::clap:

Re: Buckingham Palace to get £369million modernisation works
 

Exactly, and it would still need these works done if it were the residence of an elected head of state, or in the care of the National Trust.

Buckingham Palace is where we honour people from all walks of life and where we take all new foreign ambassadors to the UK and visiting heads of state. It is very much at the heart of British identity. The fact that the queen lives there is almost incidental...

Re: Buckingham Palace to get £369million modernisation works
 

I doubt that the National Trust could afford a £369 million bill ...

I wonder how many of these 775 rooms are in effective use? Maybe there could be some "efficiency savings" here. She could start AirBnB for some of the spare rooms maybe? :)

Re: Buckingham Palace to get £369million modernisation works
 

Then the Government would, or at least should, step up.

Re: Buckingham Palace to get £369million modernisation works
 

Can't wait for Arthur to post in apoplectic rage why the queen can't pay for her own house to be done up and when he used to work there......

Re: Buckingham Palace to get £369million modernisation works
 

Don't hold your breath

Re: Buckingham Palace to get £369million modernisation works
 

Re: Buckingham Palace to get £369million modernisation works
 

Good place to home the British homeless. Apart from that I thought our country was broke.

Re: Buckingham Palace to get £369million modernisation works
 

thats about the same amount of money we send to the eu each week ;)

Re: Buckingham Palace to get £369million modernisation works
 

Damn right :tu:

Re: Buckingham Palace to get £369million modernisation works
 

Don't worry, it'll seem like pocket change compared to what it'll cost to make the Houses of Parliament right shortly.

Re: Buckingham Palace to get £369million modernisation works
 

The Houses of Parliament and Buck. palace are a rip off. The Govt. are very keen on 'modernising' and economising in the public sector but not when it comes to themselves. Parliament should move to Milton Keynes and the royals can cohabit in the Tower.

Re: Buckingham Palace to get £369million modernisation works
 

Britain and London wouldn't nearly be as attractive as a tourist attraction if we let the historical building decay and replace them with boring, pre-fab, glass offices. We would become New York!

Parliament is also iconic and historical. There is something nice about the fact the people in there are in the same place all that history happened. One of the oldest Parliaments in the world. Think of all the events in world history which have been debated in that building.

Re: Buckingham Palace to get £369million modernisation works
 

So you would be happy with 2 of the most Iconic buildings in the world that bring in millions of tourists that boost our economy going to rack and ruin?

Thank god you're not in charge.

Re: Buckingham Palace to get £369million modernisation works
 

I'd be in favour of them being used purely for tourism and sustaining themselves. The Queen only needs one bathroom, and parliament would be a lot cheaper outside London.

Re: Buckingham Palace to get £369million modernisation works
 

don't your lot want parliament to be in Brussels .

Re: Buckingham Palace to get £369million modernisation works
 

My lot??

Re: Buckingham Palace to get £369million modernisation works
 

yes

Re: Buckingham Palace to get £369million modernisation works
 

sounds fairly cheap to me

Re: Buckingham Palace to get £369million modernisation works
 

Nice one Roger, we're all very glad you've volunteered to pay :)

Re: Buckingham Palace to get £369million modernisation works
 

I don't see any issue its more than likely a Grade 1 listed building.

Re: Buckingham Palace to get £369million modernisation works
 

Yeah, great idea. Move the entire legislature and everything required to support it to ... where, exactly? An abandoned office in Milton Keynes? And at what cost?

And while we're busy showing the world how much contempt we have for our own legislature and head of state, while we're putting up visiting Kings and Presidents in random hotels and introducing ambassadors to the Queen over curly sandwiches at the Queen Vic, will we spare a thought for the other nations of the world, and perhaps wonder what conclusions they'll reach about us, if we hold ourselves in such contempt?

Some people in this world know the price of everything and the value of nothing.

Re: Buckingham Palace to get £369million modernisation works
 

i expect i am through tax but as the royals bring in far more than that in trade deals and tourism i don't see at a a problem and even if the royals were not there i would want to see these historic places kept for my children and great grandchildren to see

Re: Buckingham Palace to get £369million modernisation works
 

Oh yes one bathroom for ALL the visiting heads of state to use.Also where outside of London shall we build a new HOP? I doubt any other city will want it..

Re: Buckingham Palace to get £369million modernisation works
 

... yes and some folks were just born idiots.

Re: Buckingham Palace to get £369million modernisation works
 

Well in fairness to Mr K he'd rather there was no national government and we'd be run purely from brussels and like others with that mindset I'll take the leap he is anti monarchy as well so shoving the queen into a bedsit to represent this country will be ok with him. There are a growing number of people with similar views and if we have such a group within the country can we really be surprised at low opinions of us from outside.

Re: Buckingham Palace to get £369million modernisation works
 

Yes but don't let it hold you back ;)

I'm not particularly anti-monarchist, but they do need to pay their. Asking the tax payer to pay when you've got 400 million tucked away and we have a massive defecit is a bit cheeky. Would you prefer your local hospital be kept open, or the Queen to get a house make over?

There are several palaces, some rarely used. She only stays one night a year in the Holyrood palace ! I'm not suggesting they get knocked down, give some to the National Trust and they/visitors can pay for the upkeep.

Re: Buckingham Palace to get £369million modernisation works
 

The sort of people who whine about the excesses of the monarchy but have little or nothing to say about the excesses of champagne socialists like Blair and all the others who don't mind riding the gravy train when it comes to their allowances, perks, expenses, grace and favour apartments etc.

Yeah the UK would be so much better if we had someone like Blair as head of state and I'm sure he'd be happy to do it all from the spartan comforts of a 2 up 2 down in Scunthorpe.

Re: Buckingham Palace to get £369million modernisation works
 

Pity you don't do any research Mr K.

The Queen spends 1 week a year at Holyrood palace at the beginning of each summer, where she carries out a range of official engagements and ceremonies.

Prince Charles also spends a week a year carrying out official duties.

It is open to the public throughout the year.

Re: Buckingham Palace to get £369million modernisation works
 

:clap:

Re: Buckingham Palace to get £369million modernisation works
 

You appear to have little or no understanding of how the Crown Estate works .The Crown Estate owns Buckingham Palace not the monarchy ,the Queen actually owns only 2 properties Sandringham and Balmoral The Queen is no more responsible for the repairs and upkeep of Buckingham Palace than the Prime Minister is responsible for repairs and upkeep of 10 Downing street

Re: Buckingham Palace to get £369million modernisation works
 

I've never really got this they bring money in via tourism etc, the palace of versailles or however it's spelt has more visitors a year iirc and there's nothing in it, certainly no kings or queens at any rate, it also irks me that we keep on being told what tremendous value for money they are, what even at 8 times the cost

https://republic.org.uk/what-we-want/royal-finances

I used to be quite a fan of them but tbh I see them these days as being at the top of a rather gashtly, corrupt class system

Re: Buckingham Palace to get £369million modernisation works
 

Most of the buildings you're referring to belong to the Crown, and therefore to the nation, not to the Windsor family. The family's personal wealth allows them to own and maintain Balmoral, for example. However when it comes to maintenance of the crown estate, of which Buckingham Palace is part, the queen is not able to make those decisions herself because since 1760 the estate's income has been surrendered to the treasury, under control of the government. The settlement currently grants back 15% of that income to pay for the Queen's expenses. Obviously, exceptional expenditure such as a once-in-a-lifetime major renovation of the most famous residence in Britain can't be budgeted for out of that.

Incidentally she stays at Holyroodhouse for a week, not a day; it is occasionally used as a base for other royals with Scottish engagements and the rest of the time it is open to the ticket-buying public.

Re: Buckingham Palace to get £369million modernisation works
 

Because even in this day and age people will travel around the world to see a glimpse of a real live queen or princess .We have one of the oldest Monarchies in the world and people do come here in their millions to see where they live ,you only have to walk down around Buckingham Palace any day of the week to see the amount of foreign tourists and they don't just stop there ,most travel around the country spending money as they go

Re: Buckingham Palace to get £369million modernisation works
 

You don't think they'd come anyway just like they do in France if she wasn't there, most people are sane enough to realise they won't catch that glimpse imo and don't come on the off chance of it

Re: Buckingham Palace to get £369million modernisation works
 

A lot of tourists come specifically to see the royal residencies ,removing them will remove a reason to come here,they are very important to tourism in the UK ,denying that is quite frankly ridiculous

Re: Buckingham Palace to get £369million modernisation works
 

More importantly, how many times does she need to empty her window vac ???

Re: Buckingham Palace to get £369million modernisation works
 

Not just that but it's a great thing to wheel out for visiting Heads of State and other important people. I think we underestimate the appeal of a visit with the Queen at Buckingham Palace to people outside the UK. Trump wanted May to pass on his regards to the Queen when they talked (although given it's Trump it's not entirely clear he knows the Queen is more of a symbolic position). Obama and especially Michelle Obama seemed to be quite fond of their visit. The Queen's visit to Ireland was very successful too.
The Royal Wedding was a big event for international news networks, took front pages across the world.

In purely pragmatic terms they're just good and useful ambassadors for Britain and have a level of status that can't be matched by Prime Ministers. Not to mention the fact they're not political means they can transcend that and represent the country in a way divorced from it's current political representation.

Re: Buckingham Palace to get £369million modernisation works
 

Even more important in these days of Brexit and a renewed commonwealth imo

Re: Buckingham Palace to get £369million modernisation works
 

Even Republic France has maintained Versailles long after they removed their monarch..

Re: Buckingham Palace to get £369million modernisation works
 

I'm a monarchist because when I look around the world at the alternatives my reaction varies from the underwhelmed to outright horror.

Look at what an executive president can saddle you with. Half of America loathes the man who is meant to represent the nation and its people around the world for the next four years. And a figurehead president like whassisname of Germany or that bloke from Ireland who looks like the dungeon master? One of those would definitely boost Brand Britannia around the world, I'm sure. Much more effective than dispatching a member of the most famous ruling family in the world.

Re: Buckingham Palace to get £369million modernisation works
 

I have never been the biggest fan of the Royal family but don't hate them or anything.

However I am glad that Bucky Palace is getting well looked after. Its a big historical building that needs preserved for years to come.

Will be here many many years after the Royal family have vacated this earth.

Re: Buckingham Palace to get £369million modernisation works
 

The residencies would still be there and visited. Here's an interesting piece on the tourism myth

https://www.google.co.uk/amp/www.ind...android-h3g-gb

Re: Buckingham Palace to get £369million modernisation works
 

From the article A billion pounds of added value is not insignificant...

Re: Buckingham Palace to get £369million modernisation works
 

Yeah but it'd make some sad folk feel better if we chucked it away to make a point. :rolleyes:

Re: Buckingham Palace to get £369million modernisation works
 

That's not from tourism is it Hugh which is the myth I was pointing out

Re: Buckingham Palace to get £369million modernisation works
 

one assumes you can find your own way to the tower ;)

Re: Buckingham Palace to get £369million modernisation works
 

What does it matter?

It's a national monument/asset.

It would be refurbished whether the queen lived there or not.

Re: Buckingham Palace to get £369million modernisation works
 

It's all symbolic nonsense. Like moving Parliament out of Westminster to see the 'real country'. Never mind that such an idea is silly, never mind it could cost more as we have to shift Whitehall and never mind how idiotic it would be to funnel up visitors, world leaders and NGOs up to Birmingham it's all to send a message. Same as the people who think he should pay minimum wage to MPs. Nonsense the lot of it.

Re: Buckingham Palace to get £369million modernisation works
 

The bottom line is that she is good at the job of being Queen .. but let's just drop all the servile rubbish shall we? She is just the same as you and me except for the fact that she has a lot more bathrooms :)

Re: Buckingham Palace to get £369million modernisation works
 

The office demands respect, as does the one who bears it.

In the USA, a former president is addressed as Mr President for life.

Re: Buckingham Palace to get £369million modernisation works
 

I like the queen a lot more then I've liked most prime ministers and unlike many of our prime ministers when the queen speaks on a subject people all over the world listen and consider what she says. The royal family do so much for this country in terms of representation, trade deals and other general diplomatic duties that they are a net benefit to the UK and the worst royal is worth a lot more then most republicans put together.

Re: Buckingham Palace to get £369million modernisation works
 

Respect .. yes. Servility ..no

Re: Buckingham Palace to get £369million modernisation works
 

No one is being servile at all..

Re: Buckingham Palace to get £369million modernisation works
 

It might bring more money in as a relic than ongoing lol

Re: Buckingham Palace to get £369million modernisation works
 

What "servile rubbish"?

She isn't the same as you or me at all ,she is the Queen of England and should get all the respect that office deserves

Re: Buckingham Palace to get £369million modernisation works
 

she's more than that

Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; born 21 April 1926[a]) has been Queen of the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand since 1952. She is also Head of the Commonwealth and the queen of 12 countries that have become independent since her accession: Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize, Antigua and Barbuda, and Saint Kitts and Nevis.[b]

Re: Buckingham Palace to get £369million modernisation works
 

And yet you have an issue with so called unelected in brussels, deary me

And let's drop the pretence there is any trade value from the commonwealth, it's a relic of old empire that these countries want to move on from tryany of slavery and don't wish to be lectured by a broke country, they are doing very well without us

Re: Buckingham Palace to get £369million modernisation works
 

You are missing the point, she *is* the same as you and me. It is just her job is different ...

You answered the point yourself: it is the "office" that deserves respect (assuming the incumbent keep to the rules). The person is .. just a person. No more, no less.

Re: Buckingham Palace to get £369million modernisation works
 

Yet Australia, New Zealand and Canada ( to name just 3 ) have all expressed a desire for trade between us.

The difference between Brussels being unelected is that they can pass EU law/regulation (call it what you will) that effect us. The Monarchy can do nothing like that, they are just a figuredhead.

Like it or not they do a very good job of representing this country to the rest of the world.

Re: Buckingham Palace to get £369million modernisation works
 

Yep, that Greek racist. Spectacular job he's done mind !!!!

Re: Buckingham Palace to get £369million modernisation works
 

I was referring to the Monarch not their consort. You really need to learn the difference.

Re: Buckingham Palace to get £369million modernisation works
 

Or randy andy, he's done a great job of helping himself and representing us to his paedo, despot, crooked friends.
Such a good job in fact the Arabs referred to him as HBH his buffon highness and questioned the value for money we were getting from his self appointed expenses only role

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...der-envoy.html

Re: Buckingham Palace to get £369million modernisation works
 

the daily fail :rofl:

Re: Buckingham Palace to get £369million modernisation works
 

That's what he used to do every day in his non job, besides I thought you were a fan of this particular tome

Re: Buckingham Palace to get £369million modernisation works
 

no i post from it to catch out hypocrites who bemoan it every day ,it works surprisingly well :)

Re: Buckingham Palace to get £369million modernisation works
 

No, you weren't

'The Monarchy can do nothing like that, they are just a figuredhead.

Like it or not they do a very good job of representing this country to the rest of the world.'

You, need to learn the difference between Monarchy & Monarch....

Apology accepted

Re: Buckingham Palace to get £369million modernisation works
 

Perhaps you need a much larger fishing hook as up to now you ain't caught much Sir.;)

Re: Buckingham Palace to get £369million modernisation works
 

its like a lobster pot sooner or later they all stick their nose in for a look :)

Re: Buckingham Palace to get £369million modernisation works
 

I was wondering when my name would come into this discussion.

I find the whole issue totally a disgrace to the vulnerable of the UK. She maybe the monarch of the UK and all the Commonwealths.

But, l look at it this way.
We have thousands of her 'subjects' you and me that cannot make ends meet. We have severe cuts of everything possible. We have a NHS is totally financial disarray.

We have police forces all over the country making cuts.

And yet the Government have agreed to pay OUR money into refurbish the Palace. And l bet the Contractor's will be offered tenders for the Company to put in good offer. And it wont be a British Company that wins it.

The Royal Family, go round the world at OUR expense. I just find it disgusting

Re: Buckingham Palace to get £369million modernisation works
 

There have been 12 Monarchs since 1701 hence the pluralisation.

Re: Buckingham Palace to get £369million modernisation works
 

Re: Buckingham Palace to get £369million modernisation works
 

If that's the way you meant it fair enough, I suspect otherwise but we move on.

Re: Buckingham Palace to get £369million modernisation works
 

The Government have agreed to pay for the upkeep of a building the Government own. Lizzie doesn't own it.

Re: Buckingham Palace to get £369million modernisation works
 

Is there anything Arthur doesn't find disgusting?

Newsagent: Morning Arthur, just checked and you've won £100,000 on your scratcard.
Arthur: That's disgusting, it's wrong. Why are they just giving money away when there's poor people who need it?
Newsagent: FML

Re: Buckingham Palace to get £369million modernisation works
 

Re: Buckingham Palace to get £369million modernisation works
 

I won't have anyone have a go at Phil, he's a legend.

---------- Post added at 17:13 ---------- Previous post was at 17:10 ----------

Also The money is going to come from the revenues of Crown Estate, not from taxes.

Re: Buckingham Palace to get £369million modernisation works
 

Correct. The Government get 85% of the revenue year on year.

Re: Buckingham Palace to get £369million modernisation works
 

Awsome :D:D:D:D:D:D

Re: Buckingham Palace to get £369million modernisation works
 

oops :)

Re: Buckingham Palace to get £369million modernisation works
 

Fixed that for you ;)

Re: Buckingham Palace to get £369million modernisation works
 

phil tells it how its is not how you want to hear it ;)

Re: Buckingham Palace to get £369million modernisation works
 

Some samples

1993
To a British tourist in Hungary in he quipped: "You can't have been here that long — you haven't got a pot belly."
To survivors of the Lockerbie bombing he told them: "People usually say that after a fire it is water damage that is the worst. We are still drying out Windsor Castle."
1994
"Aren't most of you descended from pirates?", he asked an islander in the Cayman Islands.
To a Caribbean rabbit breeder in Anguilla, he said: "Don't feed your rabbits pawpaw fruit — it acts as a contraceptive. Then again, it might not work on rabbits."
1995
He asked a Scottish driving instructor in Oban: "How do you keep the natives off the booze long enough to pass the test?"
1996
Following the Dunblane massacre, he questioned the need for a firearms ban: "If a cricketer, for instance, suddenly decided to go into a school and batter a lot of people to death with a cricket bat, which he could do very easily, I mean, are you going to ban cricket bats?"
1998
The Duke asked a British student who had been trekking in Papua New Guinea: "You managed not to get eaten then?"




mmmm exactly how we 'want to hear it'

Re: Buckingham Palace to get £369million modernisation works
 

It's the mediterranean way.

Re: Buckingham Palace to get £369million modernisation works
 

I think between him and Boris our foreign affairs are sorted

Re: Buckingham Palace to get £369million modernisation works
 

:tu:

Re: Buckingham Palace to get £369million modernisation works
 

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Re: Buckingham Palace to get £369million modernisation works
 

what do think :D

Re: Buckingham Palace to get £369million modernisation works
 

I think Boris is an ass.

Re: Buckingham Palace to get £369million modernisation works
 

You didn't fix it though.........

So why bother?

Re: Buckingham Palace to get £369million modernisation works
 

But I did & because I can ;)

Re: Buckingham Palace to get £369million modernisation works
 

How I want to hear it, most of it is bloody hilarious.

and for the Dunblane, well it's a valid point, used by the NRA in the USA since ever. Not one I share but valid nevertheless

---------- Post added at 19:03 ---------- Previous post was at 19:02 ----------

No you didn't, and you can't - just because you edited a piece of text means nothing.

Re: Buckingham Palace to get £369million modernisation works
 

Sorry, I'm wrong, he's absolutely hysterical.

Next week the return of 'Mind Your Language'

Re: Buckingham Palace to get £369million modernisation works
 

Brilliant, and hopefully "it ain't half hot mum' too

Re: Buckingham Palace to get £369million modernisation works
 

She lives in it, doesn't pay rent and tells others if they can stay there or not, sounds like she owns it to me!!

Crown estates which are going to pay less tax for quiet a while, so from taxes in a round about way

Except ones an amusing old man and the other is a nob with a well honed act that people seem happy to be taken in by for some reason.