Floorboards have been ripped up, the Grand Staircase shrouded in scaffolding and cracks in the Picture Gallery’s cornicing repaired.
So everything remains on schedule for the completion next year of the refurbishment of Buckingham Palace – an epic taxpayer-funded £369million renewal of its 775 rooms.
But every penny might as well have gone up in smoke unless the King reverses his intention to continue living at Clarence House, 300yds from the Palace.
That’s not the verdict of some red-in-tooth-and-claw republican but the candid warning of a friend – Old Etonian interior designer Nicky Haslam.
Old Etonian interior designer Nicky Haslam, pictured with the Queen, says: ‘Turning Buckingham Palace into an office is wrong. Period. It will have no magic’
‘Turning Buckingham Palace into an office is wrong. Period. It will have no magic,’ points out Haslam, 86, who has been on good terms with successive generations of the monarchy all his life, thanks initially to the fact that his mother, Diamond Ponsonby, a granddaughter of the 7th Earl of Bessborough, had been one of Queen Victoria’s goddaughters.
‘William won’t use it either. It stops Buckingham Palace being the jewel in the crown,’ adds Haslam who kept framed thank-you notes from Charles and Camilla – and Queen Elizabeth – in what he habitually refers to as ‘the lav’ at the Hampshire hunting lodge he rented from the National Trust.
When refurbishment began in 2017, royal aides rejected claims that Charles intended to use it as a sort of ‘monarchy HQ’ rather than his residence when king. ‘Buckingham Palace will remain the official residence of the monarch,’ said a statement from Clarence House.
Eager that that promise is kept, Haslam punctures the assumption that the mammoth cost of the refurbishment will be steadily recouped. Before lockdown, Buckingham Palace generated annual entrance fees of about £20million. But that won’t happen again, warns Nicky, if it’s been abandoned by the King. ‘If people think it’s an office, they won’t go there,’ he says.
Margot is adamant dandy highwayman look is back in style
Stand and deliver! Margot Robbie appeared to be channelling 1980s pop star Adam Ant on a night out in the West End of London.
The Barbie and Wuthering Heights star, 35, wore a Napoleonic-era style officer jacket, similar to ones sported by the singer, whose No 1 hits with Adam and the Ants included Prince Charming and Stand And Deliver.
Margot was attending the first night of Ava Pickett’s debut play, 1536, at the Ambassadors Theatre. The show, which stars Tanya Reynolds, of Sex Education, Liv Hill and Siena Kelly, was co-produced by Robbie.
The play is set in the Tudor-era when Henry VIII had his second wife Anne Boleyn beheaded.
Explaining the origins of her work with Ava, Margot says: ‘We met, had a bunch of martinis and I was, like, ‘We should work together – this is great.’
Drama before the State Opening of Parliament. I hear there was an accident involving one of the royal carriages during the rehearsal on Sunday.
‘They had not raised a Lords gateway sufficiently for one of the royal coaches and
it bashed into it, causing a wooden crown finial to go flying,’ a witness tells me.
‘There was much anguish from the parliamentary staff and filthy looks from the palace footmen.’ Urgent repairs were needed to the royal carriage.
I can’t juggle kids and a social life, claims Harry’s ex Chelsy
Chelsy Davy came to prominence as Prince Harry’s party-loving girlfriend when he still had a smile on his face.
But now she’s struggling to get out of the house after having three children with her husband, hotelier Sam Cutmore-Scott.
‘My social life has taken a bit of a hit and I’m very much a home body these days,’ she admits, adding: ‘I find the thought of a night out thoroughly exhausting, which is a major adjustment.’
Chelsy, 40, adds: ‘I look back on my 20s and early 30s and honestly have no idea how I kept getting up and going again.
‘I find those people that manage to maintain some semblance of a social life alongside kids and work incredibly impressive, and would love to know their secret.’ I’m sure she’s not the only one…
Strictly Come Sleuthing: Anton plots a whodunnit
Strictly Come Dancing judge Anton Du Beke has published a string of best-selling novels usually set in the world of ballroom dancing.
Now, however, he’s plotting a grisly departure. ‘I might get into [writing] something crime thriller-based,’ he tells me at the British Book Awards in Mayfair. ‘I’m a huge Agatha Christie fan,’ explains the ballroom pro, who lives in Buckinghamshire with his wife, Hannah Summers, and their twin son and daughter.
He adds: ‘[Agatha’s] Poirot is a staple in our house.’
Talented mimic Rory Bremner admits he sometimes also uses his gift just to amuse himself. Describing his mischievous wind-ups as acting ’65 going on about 12′, he says: ‘You can have fun as an impressionist. It’s part of the fun of doing voices – you can just occasionally wind people up. I used to go to restaurants, or rather ring up restaurants, in Cape Town as [Nelson] Mandela…’I would like my usual table – overlooking Robben Island’.’ Bremner sighs: ‘It’s just so childish.’
