Buckingham Palace’s $711m refurbishment means no state visits until 2027

Windsor Castle will host dignitaries during the refurbishment of King Charles’s official residence – and he is unlikely to live there once work is completed.

British guards bandsmen parade outside Buckingham Palace as part of the daily changing the guard ceremony.

No more state visits will be hosted at Buckingham Palace for the next three years as it undergoes one of the biggest upheavals in its history.

After next month’s visit by the Emir of Qatar, all state visits will take place at Windsor Castle until 2027, because most of Buckingham Palace’s grandest rooms will be closed as part of a 10-year, £369m ($711m) refurbishment.

Building works at the 775-room palace have resulted in the King leaving his private office space in the north wing, in what was previously Queen Elizabeth II’s private apartment.

Charles, 76, has now moved his office, meeting rooms and dining area, where he has afternoon tea daily, to the Belgian Suite on the ground floor of the west-facing garden wing. The suite of rooms he is now using includes the ­Orleans Room, in which he was born on November 14, 1948.

A friend of the King said: “He is always aware of the significance of history, and the decision to be based in the Orleans Room won’t have been taken without half a smile. The King will enjoy the symmetry of discharging his ­duties as monarch in the room where he was born.”

The King has decided to fund personally the redecoration of his private suite of rooms in the north wing, which are not expected to be ready for use until at least the end of 2027. The rest of the palace’s refurbishment is being funded by the taxpayer, but those close to the King say he is “mindful that the public purse should not pay for personal touches”.

Royal sources say Charles will continue to use the palace as “monarchy HQ” in the future.

While courtiers used to insist that the King and Queen would definitely move from Clarence House to live at Buckingham Palace when the refurbishment was complete, royal sources now concede his private rooms will be re­decorated only for “potential residential occupation”.

In 2017, The Sunday Times reported that Charles planned to give up Buckingham Palace as a royal home when he became King. Clarence House strongly denied the plan at the time, saying: “Buckingham Palace will remain the official residence of the monarch.”

The same stance was reiterated five years later by the palace.

Royal sources who know Charles and Camilla have said they are both “very comfortable” at Clarence House, previously occupied by the Queen Mother and a short walk from Buckingham Palace. “I know he is no fan of ‘the big house’, as he calls the palace,” a source said. “He doesn’t see it as a viable future home or a house that’s fit for purpose in the modern world.”

Another source said: “It is certainly true Camilla doesn’t want to live at Buckingham Palace.”

The Prince of Wales, who lives with his family at Adelaide Cottage on the Windsor estate and Anmer Hall, Norfolk, also agrees that the palace is not suitable for modern family life.

Until Charles’s reign, Buckingham Palace had served as the official London residence of British sovereigns since 1837. It was the late queen’s primary residence throughout her reign until March 2020, when she moved to Windsor Castle in the coronavirus lockdowns.

A friend of the King said: “This is the gradual shifting of monarchy. There was a time when ­people said ‘if the [late] queen doesn’t live at Buckingham Palace, what’s the point of Buckingham Palace?’ The King is mindful it will continue to be monarchy HQ, with the advantage that he can open it up and make it even more accessible to the public in the future – it’s win-win.”

Charles, who is still receiving weekly cancer treatment in London, will continue to divide his time between Clarence House, Sandringham in Norfolk, Highgrove in Gloucestershire, and Birk­hall on the Balmoral estate in Scotland. All state visits after Qatar’s will be held at Windsor until the latter half of 2027, when the refurbishment is expected to be complete.

Charles and Camilla will continue to host smaller receptions at Buckingham Palace in the Picture Gallery and other state rooms for part of next year, but those rooms will also shut in 2025.

The Times