The cost of renovating the new home of Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan, was ￡2.4 million (US$3.06 million), Buckingham Palace said yesterday as it detailed how the royal family had spent money provided by taxpayers.
The sum, part of the annual “Sovereign Grant,” funded the conversion of Frogmore Cottage to a single dwelling, while the couple, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, paid for the fittings and furnishings.
“The property had not been subject of work for some years and had already been earmarked for renovation in line with our responsibility to maintain the condition of the occupied royal palaces estate,” said Michael Stevens, the Keeper of the Privy Purse and responsible for royal accounts.
Photo: AFP
“Outdated infrastructure was replaced to guarantee the long-term future of the property,” he said ahead of the publication of the Sovereign Grant report, which details official income and expenditure of Queen Elizabeth II and her household.
The 19th-century Frogmore Cottage, in the grounds of the queen’s Windsor Castle estate, became the official residence of Harry and Meghan when they moved in shortly before the birth of their first child, Archie, last month.
The building had been previously converted into five separate residences and royal officials had already planned to renovate it before it was agreed that it would become the couple’s residence.
The six-month refurbishment included new electrical wiring, replacement of defective ceiling beams and floor joists, new heating systems and the introduction of new gas and water mains.
A palace source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the taxpayer grant covered the basic cost for kitchens, bathrooms and flooring with additional outlays for anything more bespoke being met privately by the royals who also paid for items such as curtains and furnishings.
Work has been “substantially” completed and outstanding renovations would not feature in next year’s annual report, meaning the cost would be under the ￡350,000 threshold to be included in the public report.
The outlay on Frogmore Cottage formed part of the ￡82.2 million Sovereign Grant, the government handout which covers the official duties of the queen, including staffing costs, upkeep of royal palaces and travel expenses.
It is based on 15 percent of surplus revenue from the Crown Estate, the monarchy’s property portfolio, from two years previously.
LANDMARK CASE: ‘Every night we were dragged to US soldiers and sexually abused. Every week we were forced to undergo venereal disease tests,’ a victim said More than 100 South Korean women who were forced to work as prostitutes for US soldiers stationed in the country have filed a landmark lawsuit accusing Washington of abuse, their lawyers said yesterday. Historians and activists say tens of thousands of South Korean women worked for state-sanctioned brothels from the 1950s to 1980s, serving US troops stationed in country to protect the South from North Korea. In 2022, South Korea’s top court ruled that the government had illegally “established, managed and operated” such brothels for the US military, ordering it to pay about 120 plaintiffs compensation. Last week, 117 victims
‘HYANGDO’: A South Korean lawmaker said there was no credible evidence to support rumors that Kim Jong-un has a son with a disability or who is studying abroad South Korea’s spy agency yesterday said that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s daughter, Kim Ju-ae, who last week accompanied him on a high-profile visit to Beijing, is understood to be his recognized successor. The teenager drew global attention when she made her first official overseas trip with her father, as he met with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Analysts have long seen her as Kim’s likely successor, although some have suggested she has an older brother who is being secretly groomed as the next leader. The South Korean National Intelligence Service (NIS) “assesses that she [Kim Ju-ae]
In the week before his fatal shooting, right-wing US political activist Charlie Kirk cheered the boom of conservative young men in South Korea and warned about a “globalist menace” in Tokyo on his first speaking tour of Asia. Kirk, 31, who helped amplify US President Donald Trump’s agenda to young voters with often inflammatory rhetoric focused on issues such as gender and immigration, was shot in the neck on Wednesday at a speaking event at a Utah university. In Seoul on Friday last week, he spoke about how he “brought Trump to victory,” while addressing Build Up Korea 2025, a conservative conference
China has approved the creation of a national nature reserve at the disputed Scarborough Shoal (Huangyan Island, 黃岩島), claimed by Taiwan and the Philippines, the government said yesterday, as Beijing moves to reinforce its territorial claims in the contested region. A notice posted online by the Chinese State Council said that details about the area and size of the project would be released separately by the Chinese National Forestry and Grassland Administration. “The building of the Huangyan Island National Nature Reserve is an important guarantee for maintaining the diversity, stability and sustainability of the natural ecosystem of Huangyan Island,” the notice said. Scarborough
RSS