Given the Windsors famously detest being forced to live in Buckingham Palace, what better gift could the King bestow than turning it over to his subjects as a museum?
Take a holiday trip to London this spring and you’ll be spoiled for choice when it comes to visitor attractions. But if you’re trying to keep costs down, there are some that are best ignored: The royal palaces and collections.
While entry to the capital’s magnificent national museums and galleries, including the National Gallery, the Tate, the Victoria and Albert (V&A) and the British Museum, has been free since 2001, the palaces, castles and stately homes occupied by King Charles III and his kin all charge substantial ticket fees — if they’re open to the public at all. That’s despite the fact that the buildings and most of the treasures they house officially belong to Charles’ subjects, who already pay for their upkeep through their taxes.
Those Brits willing to splash out to view the fabulous items of art, jewellery and other riches which are in theory owned by the state only ever see a fraction of the full collection. At any one time, a small percentage is available to be viewed by the public in the two royal galleries in London’s Buckingham Palace and Holyrood House in Edinburgh. The rest are squirrelled away in vaults or adorn the walls and rooms of the royals’ private apartments.
A visit to Buckingham Palace is a pricey business. A standard ticket will set you back 37 pounds (33 pounds if you book in advance online), while a stroll around the gardens takes the price up to 48 pounds. Meanwhile, the most popular royal attraction, Windsor Castle, costs 35 pounds per adult (31 pounds in advance) and Holyrood House, the royals’ official Scottish residence, is 25 pounds (21 pounds). That’s on top of the millions taxpayers have paid over the years for the upkeep of the royal residences; Buckingham Palace is currently in the middle of a 369-million-pound state-funded refurb.
Ticket fees go toward to the Royal Collection Trust, the outfit that maintains the government-owned but Windsor-inhabited regal properties. Last year, the royal residences attracted 2.65 million visitors who shelled out almost 90 million pounds on tickets and souvenirs. The Trust’s commercial arm, the Royal Collection Enterprises, donates the profit back to its own charitable branch.
In a statement, the Trust said: “Income from admissions and retail sales contributes directly to the care and conservation of the Collection and activities to share it with as many people as possible. These include exhibitions, an extensive loans programme, and free and discounted community and school visits for under-represented and disadvantaged people who are less likely to visit independently.” Annual passes and 1-pound tickets for those on some benefits are also available.
The current occupiers of the British throne, the Windsors, are among the wealthiest families on th
Read more from original article, all rights reserved Opinion: Buckingham Palace Would Be an Excellent Museum
Leave a Reply