Live like Royalty as The Queen puts two flats in palace up for rent
Cash raised from renting the St James's Palace pads will be used to fix crumbling Royal homes
THE Queen has been raising cash to repair her crumbling palaces by moving in tenants.
For the first time Her Majesty has decided to rent out two apartments.
The London pads - both in St James’s Palace - have already been snapped up.
One is Apartment 29a, which was renovated with £500,000 of public money.
It boasts four beds and has been bringing in £20,000 a month since the start of the year.
The other, Apartment 29b, is even more luxurious — with Princesses Eugenie and Beatrice as neighbours.
The occupant is paying more than £250,000 a year.
The lets helped the Queen net £2.9million in property rental income, according to figures for the royal finances that show Her Majesty’s annual subsidy from the taxpayer has been £42.8million.
The Sovereign Grant is due to rise 6.5 per cent to £45.6million next year.
Sir Alan Reid, Keeper of the Privy Purse, said: “The condition of the estate is deteriorating at a faster rate than we can repair.
“Forty-five per cent of the estate is considered to be below target condition, as opposed to 39 per cent in 2012.” Royal travel costs have been trimmed from £5.1million to £4million.
But Prince Charles spent £74,500 on a charter flight to Turkey for the Gallipoli centenary. Princess Anne racked up a £12,400 bill for a private jet to Glasgow from her home in Gatcombe, Gloucs, for a classical concert.
Charles’s expenditure went down in the last financial year — as the Duchy of Cornwall made more money.
related stories
His costs decreased from £11.7million to £10.6million.
Meanwhile the Duchy made £600,000 more than the year before. It meant his tax bill went up 12 per cent to £5million.