King turns radiators down as soaring energy bills bite

The King has turned the radiators down to as low as 16C as Buckingham Palace makes cutbacks to deal with soaring inflation.

The combined pressures of rising fuel and energy bills, the ongoing refurbishment programme at Buckingham Palace and the costs connected to events surrounding the death of Elizabeth II forced the palace to draw down more than £20 million from its reserves last year as the King spent more than he earned.

It came as the Crown Estate, the land and property portfolio controlled by the sovereign, announced a loss of half a billion pounds but revealed that it was open to building onshore wind farms on royal land.

As the palace grappled with utility bills that have “gone up 100 per cent” and continued its push to achieve net zero emissions, the King turned down the heating.

The annual Sovereign Grant report on royal finances, published on Thursday, reveals there has been a “concerted effort” to reduce the temperature in occupied rooms to 19C and to “educate staff” to turn down the thermostat to 16C in vacant rooms.

Heating is also turned down to a minimum during weekends, while historic gas lamps have been switched off pending their conversion to electric.

Turned down the thermostat

It emerged last month that Charles, 74, a lifelong environmentalist, had turned down the thermostat in the palace swimming pool, leaving staff feeling the chill.

A palace spokesman said: “His Majesty’s long standing leadership in this space has reinforced this strategic importance of this issue to the household.

“These are the important steps that we’ve taken to reduce our natural gas and heating emissions this year which is the largest area of our carbon emissions.”

Official royal spending increased by five per cent during the last financial year to £107.5 million, with its income decreasing by one per cent to £9.8 million, less than half of pre-pandemic levels.

Meanwhile, the Sovereign Grant remains stagnated at £86.3 million, which includes a £34.5 million for the ongoing Palace refurbishment.

The spokesman said the impact of Covid-19, meant that the income used to supplement the Sovereign Grant from the Royal Collection had “diminished substantially”.

“In real terms with prices going up, in terms of where we’ve had to cut back, where we had to make savings, they are across the board, because we are having to deal with inflation,” he said.

However, he insisted that the royal household would continue to “live within our means and make adjustments accordingly.”

A spokesman said it had been an “exceptional year” for state occasions, with the Platinum Jubilee, the late Queen’s funeral and the preparation for the Coronation, making it a “challenging year” to review expenditure.

He also confirmed that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex had now vacated Frogmore Cottage, their Windsor home.