State functions, offices and tourists: plans for revamped Buckingham Palace

Despite £369m upgrade, King Charles will never live in palace but aides stress it will remain ‘buzzing hive’ of activity Not all modern British monarchs have viewed the prospect of moving into Buckingham Palace with unalloyed joy. So in announcing he will never live there, after the completion of its £369m upgrade next year, King Charles has at least grasped that nettle. Queen Victoria was initially dismayed by the damp, dingy and disorganised building that greeted her after her ascension in 1837. It was her husband, Albert, who she married three years later, who refashioned it into “Monarchy HQ”. After his death in 1861, Victoria retreated mainly to Windsor, Balmoral and Osborne House on the Isle of Wight. Previously, Queen Victoria’s uncle, William IV, had shown no love for it, staying instead in Clarence House – the very same royal residence round the corner on the Mall where Charles has chosen to live. William IV even tried to palm it off on parliament when the Palace of Westminster, which comprises the House of Commons and the House of Lords, burned down in 1834 – an offer swiftly rejected by MPs. Queen Elizabeth II, who also wanted to remain with Prince Philip in Clarence Hou