Heating at Buckingham Palace turned down to cut emissions and save money
The heating at Buckingham Palace and other royal homes has been turned down to cut emissions, royal accounts have shown.
The royal family, as well as their staff and guests, were living with temperatures set at 19C during the winter.
Rooms were kept at 16C when empty according to the accounts of the Sovereign Grant, which is funded by the taxpayer.
Net expenditure increased by £5.1m, or 5%, to £107.5 million for 2022-23, which royal aides said was due to the change of monarchs, inflation and the continued costs of Buckingham Palace’s reservicing programme – the 10-year project to update the electrical cabling, plumbing and heating.
The Sovereign Grant remained unchanged at £86.3m during 2022-23.
Funding of the King’s official duties and his household costs £51.8m – equivalent to 77p per person in the UK – while £34.5m pays for ongoing reservicing costs for the palace.
Payroll costs were one of the biggest annual increases of any expenditure during 2022-23, rising £3.4m to £27.1m, with staff given a pay rise of about 5% to 6%.
The number of staff also increased to pre-pandemic levels as royal activities picked up after the lockdowns.
But the royal household failed to meet its diversity target of drawing 10% of its workforce from ethnic minorities, with the 2023 figure of 9.7% the same as last year.
The cost of royal travel was down by £600,000 to £3.9m. Spending on 179 helicopter flights topped £1m.
The most expensive trip was the King and Queen’s visit to Rwanda in June last year, and a separate staff planning visit, to attend a Commonwealth leaders’ summit, costing £186,571.
A Buckingham Palace spokesperson also confirmed that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex had moved out of Frogmore Cottage.
King Charles III and Queen Camilla at Royal Ascot this month
But the spokesperson would not confirm the next tenant after reports claimed Prince Andrew is resisting a downsizing move from his Royal Lodge home to Harry and Meghan’s former home.
‘A year of grief, change and celebration’
The report showed £1.6m was spent on the Queen’s funeral which included paying for engagements at Buckingham Palace and staff costs and travel, a palace spokesperson said.
A further £700,000 was spent by the royal household on the Platinum Jubilee.
Separate financial information relating to the Prince of Wales was also released, showing William received a private income of nearly £6m from the Duchy of Cornwall.
Sir Michael Stevens, Keeper of the Privy Purse, said the past 12 months had been “a year of grief, change and celebration, the like of which our nation has not witnessed for seven decades”.
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He added: “These past 12 months have taken us from the Platinum Jubilee in the summer of last year, to the sadness of the death of Queen Elizabeth and the accession of our new sovereign in the autumn, via an incoming and outgoing state visit and many months of work in preparation for the coronation of their majesties King Charles and Queen Camilla in the spring of this year.”
But Graham Smith, chief executive of Republic, which campaigns for an elected head of state, criticised the rise in royal expenditure as the country experienced a cost-of-living crisis.
He said: “Charles has suggested he’s concerned about, and aware of, the cost-of-living crisis and yet he seems completely oblivious to his need to reduce costs and they continue to go up and up, whilst public services are being squeezed.
“Really they should be slashing the budget by tens of millions of pounds, not increasing it by £5m.”
UK
Philip Young appears in Swindon court charged with 56 sexual offences against ex-wife – as five others also charged
A man has appeared in court charged with drugging and raping his ex-wife over a 13-year period.
Philip Young, 49, formerly of Swindon, has been charged with 56 offences, including multiple counts of rape, against Joanne Young.
He is also charged with administering a substance to allow sexual activity, as well as voyeurism, possession of indecent images of children and possession of extreme images.
Young appeared at Swindon Magistrates’ Court this morning and spoke only to confirm his name and address.
He declined to enter a plea and was remanded in custody until the next hearing at Swindon Crown Court on 23 January.
The alleged offences took place between 2010 and 2023.
Philip Young was remanded in custody
The 49-year-old was taken to court in Swindon on Tuesday morning
Five other men have also been charged with sexual offences against Ms Young. The 48-year-old has waived her legal right to anonymity.
The full list of charges against Philip Young are:
- 11 counts of rape
- seven counts of sexual assault by penetration
- four counts of sexual touching
- 11 counts of administering a substance with intent to stupefy/overpower to allow sexual activity
- 13 counts of voyeurism specific to videos
- Voyeurism on at least 200 other occasions
- Possession of Indecent Images of Children:
Category A – 139
Category B – 68
Category C – 23
Prohibited – 3
Extreme – 82 (with one count each for four types: rape, animals, death, gore)
Breaching S1 of the Obscene Publications Act 1959 on at least 500 occasions
The other men appeared at the same court later on and were released on conditional bail.
They are: Norman Macksoni, 47, of Sharnbrook, Bedfordshire. He is a black British national and has been charged with one count of rape and possession of extreme images.
Dean Hamilton, 47, of no fixed abode. He is a white British national and has been charged with one count of rape and sexual assault by penetration and two counts of sexual touching.
Court artist sketch of Philip Young (right) appearing at Swindon Magistrates’ Court. Pic: Elizabeth Cook/PA
Conner Sanderson Doyle, 31, of Swindon. He is a white British national and has been charged with sexual assault by penetration and sexual touching
Richard Wilkins, 61, of Swindon. He is a white British national and has been charged with one count of rape and sexual touching
Mohammed Hassan, 37, of Swindon. He is a British Asian and has been charged with sexual touching.
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