Charles III will not live at Buckingham Palace after the completion of a 10-year, 369-million-pound ($692 million Cdn) refurbishment program as the monarchy seeks to increase public access to the historic building that has been the centre of royal life for almost 200 years.
Royal officials stressed that the king and Queen Camilla would continue to work out of the palace, which will remain “the ceremonial and operational centre” of the monarchy. But for the rest of Charles’s reign, the king and queen will remain in nearby Clarence House.
“It is and will remain Monarchy HQ, the crown jewel of our national buildings,” said James Chalmers, the senior royal official responsible for managing the king’s financial affairs.
The decision was announced Thursday during a briefing on royal finances at which Charles became the first British monarch to reveal the taxes he paid to the government. The king paid 12.9 million pounds ($24.19 million Cdn) in income and capital gains taxes in the 2024-25 financial year, up from 11.7 million pounds ($21.94 milion Cdn) the previous year.
The announcements come as the royal family tries to shift the narrative after months of embarrassing headlines about the links between the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and the former Prince Andrew, now known as Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor. The public’s focus on Mountbatten-Windsor has overshadowed the king’s efforts to modernize the monarchy and show that the 1,000-year-old institution can evolve.
Built in 1703 and converted into a royal palace in the 1820s, Buckingham Palace has been the London home of every British monarch since Queen Victoria. With 775 rooms, the palace also provides office space for the royal bureaucracy and hosts lavish state dinners for visiting presidents and potentates.
The palace is also a focal point for the public, with crowds gathering under its famous balcony to cheer as kings and queens announce the end of wars, celebrate their marriages and mark historic events, such as Queen Elizabeth II’s 70 years on the throne. It also provides the backdrop for parades down the broad ceremonial avenue known as The Mall.
But after all the wear and tear, the palace was starting to show its age. In 2017, the royal household began a 10-year program to update obsolete plumbing, wiring and heating and upgrade the building so it could continue to house the monarchy for another 50 years. The project is scheduled to be completed next year.
But now the king and queen have decided to live at Clarence House, a stately home close to the palace where Charles has lived since he was Prince of Wales.
That decision will allow the palace to increase public access, hosting more events and expanding the number of visitors and tours of the building, Chalmers said. The palace already receives about 700,000 visitors a year.
