Queen's Snub to Camilla over Palace
by RICHARD KAY and STEVE DOUGHTY, Daily Mail
27th June 2003
The Queen has refused to pay the cost of fitting out a private suite
for Camilla Parker Bowles.
Her decision, revealed yesterday, shows that a certain coolness
remains between her and Prince Charles over his partner.
It means the Prince will have to fund the decoration and furnishing
of Mrs Parker Bowles's two-room suite at Clarence House from his own
pocket.
The decision that the public purse will not bear the charges stems
from a deep anxiety to demonstrate that Camilla, who remains
unpopular with a high proportion of the population, is not being
treated to a lavish lifestyle by the taxpayer.
It is also a powerful sign that, for all the talk of reconciliation
with her son over the issue, for the Queen, Mrs Parker Bowles remains
an outsider.
Unusually, Palace officials volunteered the information about who
pays without prompting. The news was slipped out as, for the second
year running, the Palace published accounts breaking down the main
areas of royal spending.
A senior source said: "It was an amicable agreement between
Buckingham Palace and St James's Palace, and it was felt the taxpayer
should not pay for the decoration of these rooms."
Two months ago the Mail disclosed that the refurbishment even
included a room to be set aside for Camilla's father, Major Bruce
Shand.
Designer for Princes' rooms
Under the deal Buckingham Palace has met the basic cost of renovating
Camilla's two rooms, including rewiring and plumbing. But it has not
paid for fixtures and fittings such as taps, curtains and wallpaper.
Renovated:
Clarence House
The rooms are part of Charles's seven-bedroom private quarters, which
also include accommodation for Princes William and Harry. Charles has
hired fashionable interior designer Robert Kime to carry out the work
on them, which will cost him £1.6 million.
Yesterday Mrs Parker Bowles spoke at a memorial service for Linda
Edwards, founder of the Osteoporosis Society, of which she is
president. The appearance was a demonstration of her increasingly
prominent public profile and growing status as she becomes more
comfortable in her role as royal companion.
But a major question remains over her relations with the rest of the
Royal Family, and in particular the Queen.
'Unnecessary humiliation'
Friends of Camilla reacted angrily to the Palace's release of
information about the bills, seeing it as an unnecessary
humiliation. "It is extremely odd," one said. "If nobody was asking
questions, why has someone decided to talk about it?" The issue will
revive old tensions between St James's and Buckingham Palace.
Earlier this year Mrs Parker Bowles confided to friends that she
feared she was being "frozen out" by some of Charles's staff,
although St James's Palace flatly denied it.
The Clarence House refurbishment is slated to cost £4.4m, but at
least £500,000 more will be spent on essential renovation in future.
In return for the public money, many of its rooms will be open to the
public in August.
Royal spending released
The spending is part of total taxpayer funding of the monarchy of
£36.2 million last year - a rise of 2.5 per cent.
Alan Reid, the Queen's Treasurer and Keeper of the Privy Purse, said
the annual bill for the Royals to each of the Queen's subjects is
around 60p.
He said: "Efficiency in terms of value for money is important.
However, it is not necessarily our aim to have the cheapest monarchy
possible - quality is also important."
Civil List expenditure - money spent directly on running the Queen's
household - was up from £8.15 million to £9.75 million.
One major increase in costs shows the Queen's determination to
modernise. She spent £182,000 on computers and information systems.
Officials predict that by next year the cost of maintaining
Kensington Palace will be met from rents, as more apartments are let
on the open market.
Only one area of royal expenditure was unaccounted for in yesterday's
figures - security.
It is estimated at up to £30 million, but the Government does not release details.
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Funny Editorial
Aberdeen Evening Express, June 24, 2003
A Simple Mistake?
You've got to pity those poor guards who are getting a hiding over security at Prince William's 21st birthday party. They were faced with a loud person in a beard and a dress blagging their way in for a glass of wine.
How were they to know it wasn't Camilla Parker Bowles?
B