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Queen allows rare glimpse inside Buckingham Palace's £369m refurbishment
Buckingham Palace is getting a facelift—a £369 million facelift, to be exact.
Now, the royal family is giving the public a rare glimpse inside the palace's most recent refurbishment. On Sunday, the royal family's official Instagram account shared a video taking fans inside the wallpaper conservation project currently underway in the East Wing's Yellow Drawing Room.
According to Hello! magazine, the current refurbishment will cost £369 million. The video shared by the royal family shows just how that money (or at least some of it) is being spent.
'We are very carefully removing the wallpaper, beautiful 19th century Chinese wallpaper, piece by piece, and then we will take it back to the studios to conserve it and preserve it for the future,' wallpaper conservator Allyson McDermott explains in the video. 'This is the perfect time. The paper is desperately in need of conservation. It's very acidic. It's very fragile. And this is just a wonderful opportunity to do it whilst all the work is being carried out at the palace.'
In the video's full, lengthy caption, the royal family explains:
'Watch as historic nineteenth-century wallpaper from the Yellow Drawing Room is carefully taken away for conservation. Not only will this work restore the rare, fragile wallpaper, but it will simultaneously protect it from incurring damage from nearby construction work as part of the Reservicing programme. Once the works are complete, the restored wallpaper will return to its home in the Yellow Drawing Room.
'The Reservicing programme is vital in order to mitigate the risk of fire and flood and will ensure that old wiring is brought in line with current health and safety standards. The refurbishment will also improve visitor access and make the Palace more energy efficient.
'Designed by Edward Blore in the 1840s, the East Wing of Buckingham Palace was built for Queen Victoria to provide more entertaining and living space for her expanding family. Blore’s design included the famous central balcony on the front façade of the Palace, which was incorporated at Prince Albert’s suggestion. Since then it has been used on many national occasions, including annually at Trooping the Colour.'
It's not clear exactly when the refurbishment will be complete.
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