Palace refurb

I agree WASPI women cannot have our pension but there is money to do repairs to Buckingham Palace. Surely as one of the richest people in the world she should have been doing the repairs as and when needed like the rest of us do. If she was short of money she has enough things to sell or even a loan from her bank like we have to. Oh I forgot she is to old for a secured loan.

It belongs to the nation, not the Queen - She owns her own houses/palaces. It is world famous and part of our heritage. It's disgraceful that she has to go cap in hand to ask for repairs which should have been done years ago. It sounds as if the wiring is frankly dangerous. What a tragedy if it burned down!

As for havig a president instead, look at the mess the USA has got itself into!

I'm not really a Royalist, but Buckingham Palace is a state building which houses the Royal administrative offices. There are 700 plus rooms mainly offices and state rooms for visiting VIPs, while the Queen occupies ten rooms there. It is an iconic building, not particularly architecturally attractive, but well known around the world and a major tourist attraction. It is crumbling and needs major renovations for safety and economy.
It does seem a great deal of money, but the Queen herself will not benefit from the refurbishment. It is a long term investment for the country (even more important post Brexit!) even if the UK becomes a republic in the future we have to maintain famous historic buildings. Leave the ninety year old Queen alone!

Only a tiny fraction of it is open to the public, and only on about 60 days of the year, unlike the White House, which is open most of the year. I've just googled who is responsible and it looks as though it's "The Household" and one man jas just been sent down for receiving large bribes.....

Sue Townsend book, The Queen and I springs to mind as to what we should do.

Disgraceful waste of money.
WASPI women having money withheld.
NHS in peril.
People dying for lack of support in ill health and or joblessness.
Heads should be hanging in shame.

One word - Bulldozer

Where doed all the money that the tourists that pay to actually view the white elephant go to? The wages of the staff showing the folk round can't be that high surely? And the gift shop with £160 Alex Monroe corgi necklaces and £20 boxes of biscuits etc..

So no, I don't believe the public should pay for its upkeep...or can I have my bathroom and kitchen redone too please?

On my travels abroad the locals always talk about visiting England to see Buck Palace it generates plenty of money as well as being able to go inside for 3 months of the year. Have you seen how deep the visitors are each time there is changing of the guard. Definitely great for our economy.

Why has it been neglected for so long? Who is supposed to be responsible for it and how have they failed so miserably?

How many palaces does one old bird need?

I only have this one and the roof leaked last night, will have to pay for the repairs myself.............on a pension.

People come here for cheap pants from M&S and to see where the Beatles lived, or the Tate Galleries and loads of other stuff....the Royal family are irrelevant now. We have masses of history to be going on with time they were gone.......

I'm not actually a royalist, but my menfolk haven't a good word to say for the concept of monarchy - I feel that until they can ensure that a presidential system won't lead to even more political corruption - Mugabe, Trump . . . you name them and I'll show you someone who wants to change rules to become President for Life (possibly Blair would want the job!) better the status quo. But Buck House is, as I understand it, more of a workplace, a luxury office rather than a home, I think we should pay for the repairs.

The Royals live in Palaces..and the Prime Minister.who runs the country (questionable tho re monthly meets with the Queen!!!) lives in basically a large terraced house...

Slight change of subject but I am wondering why the royals all have names that you can add "y" or "ie" to the end of?

Lizzie, Charlie, Andy, Annie, Eddie, Willy, Harry, Katy, Georgie..... It can't be a coincidence ?

I don't think we should let it collapse, I think we (as co owners) should sell it to the highest bidders and have it converted into a hotel to cater for all those tourists who would pay silly money to think they might have have slept in the same room as the "queen of England" whoopee do.

If, as someone said on here, the nation owns Buckingham Palace then why does the nation only have access to a small part of it - AND have to pay for that access?

While the government cuts the money available to local councils, and councils in turn are forced to make cuts to vital services, it seems quite immoral to me that a family with several large homes which are only occupied for part of the year expect the state to pay for the maintenance of those homes.

Whilst tourists may well go to look at Buckingham Palace when they visit London, I really don't believe that they would not visit London/Britain if it was not a royal residence. Anyway, most people who haven't seen it before are quite disappointed when they do - it's not a particularly attractive building.

I think Charles should be King , it may be a short reign but surely he has served the longest apprenticeship in history , let him have his time

I lived in an 'ex' communist country for a few years and have travelled to every other eastern block country, and I have travelled in Russia. That 'palace' in Bucharest is truly amazing. The Romanians are very different to all the rest of them: and I think this is down to the fact that when they said: enough is enough and took Ceausescu and his wife outside and put a bulletin in the back of their heads future governments knew they had to watch their step.
All these countries have the same mindset: come the revolution the Rolls Royce is mine.

Well, it is an iconic building as far as Brits are concerned - one of our landmarks. In that vein I don't mind the expense although I do feel deeply for those who cannot make ends meet. But every country must have its images. Rather than pull it down or sell it off as a hotel, let's turn it into a fabulous art gallery. Better able to be protected than most of the ones we have.
I am of the mind that once the Queen pops her clogs the young of Britain won't give a damn. The truth is the monarchy now is Elizabeth II and everything else is collateral damage. They all have a good education and most have University degrees so go out there and earn your crust just like the rest of us.

Under communism everyone is equal Deedaa - it's just that some are more equal than others.

Will Donald and Melania gild the White House?
At what cost to the US taxpayer?
But at least he does not pretend to be a communist.

That's presidents for you.

The first thing my Italian friend wanted to do was have her photograph taken in front of the palace. Not sure why because it's a very boring building.
Have you noticed the rooms where Putin tends to give press conferences? Ive never seen so much gilding anywhere, even The Donald would be pushed to match it. I presume that they were kept in the same style during the communist era when they were all busy being "equal"

Nooooooooooooooooo! I'm starting a petition to give the Queen squatters' rights!

Maybe The Donald could turn it into a golf resort.

Perhaps we should get the National Trust to take it over. Or English Heritage (like Osborne House).

If we are to pay for the refurb, then her maj and co. should move out to something smaller and the building should become a tourist attraction only with the artwork etc. available to us all to view. We are paying for all this - we should have the right to look at it.

I do agree rosesarered