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New £2m island will restore dignity to St James’s Palace, says Ritz boss

'Beautiful vision': An impression of the redesign which aims to improve views of St James’s Palace: Peter Heath
'Beautiful vision': An impression of the redesign which aims to improve views of St James’s Palace: Peter Heath

The Ritz hotel’s deputy chairman said today a £2 million road redesign will “bring dignity” to St James’s Palace.

St James’s is the most senior royal palace and home to Princess Beatrice, Princess Anne and Princess Alexandra, with Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall next door at Clarence House.

Princess Eugenie previously shared a four-bedroom apartment with her sister Beatrice at the palace before moving to a cottage behind Kensington Palace with her fiancé, Jack Brooksbank.

Unlike the grand forecourt of Buckingham Palace, St James’s is dominated by a tarmacked traffic ­junction often used by taxi drivers to do U-turns.

Andrew Love, deputy chairman of the Ritz Hotel, was part of a campaign to create a “better setting” for the Tudor palace at the end of Pall Mall.

The scheme is mostly funded by the Crown Estate, which manages the sovereign’s public estate.

The project starts this week and will reshape the central island, making the area more accessible for tourists. It will introduce natural stone paving, new road crossings and more delicate street lighting.

The area of St James’s has the highest density of listed buildings in the country and is a hive of private members’ clubs, shops holding royal warrants, art galleries and business headquarters.

Mr Love, chairman of the St James’s Conservation Trust, said: “This is part of a 20-year local community campaign to dignify the palace.

“The community took a very great interest in the development of it, and it is for the benefit of London and in particular St James’s and the people that live there.

“It’s really exciting. It will add a beautiful vision to that particular area where it is nothing but ugly at the moment. It improves the view of the historic palace quite significantly.

“I see it as my responsibility to try to ensure the ethos and beauty of St James is not spoilt but enhanced.”

Originally an 11th-century leper’s hospital, the site was acquired in 1532 by Henry VIII, and has a Tudor gateway. After Whitehall Palace burnt down in the 17th century all monarchs lived at St James’s Palace for part of their reigns until Queen Victoria moved to Buckingham Palace.

On the day of his execution in January 1649, Charles I said goodbye to his children at the palace before walking to the scaffold in Whitehall.

All foreign ambassadors to the UK are still referred to as being appointed to the Court of St James’s.