LONDON (Reuters) – British members of parliament criticised Queen Elizabeth’s Royal Household today for blowing its annual budget while neglecting repairs at Buckingham Palace, which two lawmakers suggested was falling apart.
The palace, which is over 300 years old, has not had its electrical wiring renewed since 1949, needs asbestos removing and has 60-year old boilers, parliament’s Public Accounts Committee said in a report.
The report included a transcript of exchanges between MPs and a royal household official over the upkeep of the palace, which is the monarch’s London home.
“So work is being carried on while they are living in crumbling surroundings?” opposition Labour MP Austin Mitchell asked Sir Alan Reid, keeper of the privy purse and treasurer to the queen.
“Clearly the buildings are not actually falling down,” Reid replied.
“The wall as you walk in through the main gates of Buckingham Palace was,” a second MP, Conservative Richard Bacon, interjected. “I remember walking under it and it being explained to us that the stone … was dropping on people, although I don’t think anyone was actually hit.” The queen and royal family command widespread respect and affection in Britain, but their spending has not escaped scrutiny as the country has tightened its belt since the global financial crisis of 2008.
The Royal Household’s latest accounts showed it had exceeded its 2012-13 budget of £31 million ($51.38 million) by £2.3 million, the report said. To plug the gap, it had to dip into a reserve fund.
