Queen Elizabeth is set to move out of her private rooms in Buckingham Palace in 2025, when she will be 99 years old.
The monarch and her husband Prince Philip will have to vacate their Palace apartments so that the historic building can undergo major renovation work, including the refitting of old cables, pipes and wires, which currently pose a major fire risk due to their age.
This is part of a ten year renovation project that began in 2017 and is slated to end in 2027, at a cost of £369 million.
It is yet to be confirmed where the Queen and Prince Philip would stay during the building work, though the couple certainly aren’t short of options, with Windsor Castle (reportedly one of Her Majesty’s favourite residences) and Kensington Palace or even another wing of Buckingham Palace itself perhaps presenting sensible options.
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A royal source told the Express that Her Majesty is eager to be amenable to the planned renovations. ‘The Queen is immensely pragmatic and she wants to stay in the palace,’ they revealed. ‘She said, “Let me know where you would like me to go.”’
Next week, work is set to start on the Palace’s iconic East Wing, which includes the famous balcony on which the royal family appear for the Trooping the Colour celebrations each year. The building, however, will remain fully open for state visits.
Tony Johnstone Burt, the master of the Queen’s household, is overseeing the renovation project. Speaking in 2016, when the plans were first announced, he promised to take the work ‘extremely seriously indeed,’ and to deliver it ‘on time, within budget and to the required specification.’