Spending reached 318 million pounds by March 2026, the works finish in March 2027, and officials say the building will serve as a working headquarters with more public access
Buckingham Palace is the most famous address in Britain and, it turns out, will not be the home of the people it belongs to. According to a BBC report republished by The Star on 26 June 2026, King Charles and Queen Camilla will not move into the palace after its 369 million pound refurbishment. Clarence House, next to St James’s Palace, will remain the King’s official home, where the couple have lived since their 2005 marriage. The report says neither wanted the disruption of relocating themselves and their staff.
The Reasons Officials Give
The explanation is public access. The report cites officials saying that a royal residence would limit visitor numbers and the areas that could be viewed, for reasons including security, whereas an empty palace can open for longer and raise more income for the Royal Collection Trust. Buckingham Palace stays the monarchy’s administrative headquarters and hosts state banquets, garden parties, receptions and audiences. The King will keep private rooms there for use during working days.
A palace spokesperson said: ‘It will be a buzzing hive of royal activity in every other way.’ James Chalmers, the Keeper of the Privy Purse, called the decision ‘both a change from the past and a recognition of the future.’ Both statements come from the people announcing the plan, so they are best read as the official explanation, not an independent verdict.
The Works and the Money
The refurbishment is a ten-year project funded by a temporary increase in the Sovereign Grant, due to finish in March 2027. It replaces ageing cables, lead pipes, wiring and boilers, many untouched for about 60 years, to reduce the risk of fire and water damage. The Royal Trustees’ Sovereign Grant Review adds a progress figure: by the end of March 2026, spending had reached 318 million pounds, 86 percent of the original budget. The final funding tranche, 40.3 million pounds, is in the 2026-27 Grant. The North and South Wings are expected to finish in 2026-27, and the programme is expected to contribute over one billion pounds to the UK economy by 2027.
That last claim is the Trustees’ estimate, and economic impact figures of this kind depend heavily on assumptions about what would otherwise have been spent. It is a number to note and not to rely on. The more concrete figure is the one that shows spending at 86 percent of the original budget with the programme close to its end. Our guide to the palace gates and the photographs they attract reminds readers that the building’s exterior has always been the most visited part.
Why Clarence House
Clarence House is a modest choice by royal standards. It is a Regency house beside St James’s Palace, within sight of the Mall, and it has been the home of several members of the family. Our own account of Clarence House describes the building and its history. The choice makes sense on the Palace’s own logic: a residence that is already comfortable and secure does not need to be abandoned for a larger one that is mostly used for ceremonies.
It also changes the meaning of the palace. For more than a century the building has been both a home and a stage. Now it is mainly a stage, with a small backstage. The King’s private rooms are for working days, not for nights, and the public rooms carry the business of the state.
The Visitors’ Palace
The public side has already changed. An article in The Week US dated 7 November 2024, and therefore describing the terms at that time, reported that paying visitors would be able to enter the palace through its front gates for the first time, the same way as guests at garden parties and royal receptions. It said the east wing had opened to the public that summer, in the palace’s 175th year, and drawn record visitor numbers, and that tours would run from January to May, with a 90-minute guided tour at 90 pounds. Those details date from 2024 and may have changed; a visitor should check the Royal Collection Trust’s current listings.
The wider point is that the palace has become a revenue-earning attraction as well as a seat of government. Our note on the gates touches on the crowds, and our look at Windsor Castle and its commute covers a sister property.
The Critics
The report records one criticism, from the former Liberal Democrat minister Norman Baker, who argued that the palace’s visitor revenue should go to the Treasury instead. It is a reasonable view, and the opposing view is also reasonable: the Royal Collection Trust is a charity that cares for the collection and opens the buildings, and its income supports that work. Neither side is wrong on the facts. They disagree about who should benefit.
The same report notes that the King paid 12.9 million pounds in tax for 2024-25 and 11.7 million pounds for 2023-24, placing him among the UK’s top 100 taxpayers, and that he is the first monarch to publish tax payments. Those claims are the report’s own.
What to Watch
The next stages are practical. The works must finish by March 2027. The Grant falls the following year. And the household must show that the palace, once complete, earns enough through visitors and events to justify the choice to leave it empty at night. For a visitor in Westminster, the sensible plan is to check the opening dates, book ahead and expect the gates to be busy.
For more on the family and its properties, see our royal family news page, and for the wider magazine visit Bohiney Magazine. If you would like the subject at a lighter angle, NewsBiscuit is a good companion. As for the palace itself, it remains the most expensive building in London to leave unoccupied overnight, and the one with the best claim to a good reason.
SOURCE: bohiney.com
