Inside Buckingham Palace’s £369m refurbishment: Royal Family video shows experts painstakingly stripping 19th century wallpaper ‘piece by piece’ as work continues in the East Wing
- Royal Family Instagram account shared a video of inside Buckingham Palace
- Shows the refurbishment work being carried out inside the East Wing
- Wallpaper is being removed ‘piece by piece’ from the Yellow Drawing Room
- The 19th century wallpaper was hung in the Brighton Pavilion and rediscovered
The Royal Family has offered a look at the painstaking work being carried out as part of the £369million refurbishment of Buckingham Palace.
A two-minute video shared on the Royal Family Instagram account reveals how 19th century wallpaper is being removed ‘piece by piece’ from the Yellow Drawing Room as part of work in the East Wing.
The wallpaper in the room, which was once used by Queen Victoria for entertaining, is so fragile that it could be damaged by tremors from nearby construction work.
A two-minute video shared on the Royal Family Instagram account reveals how 19th century wallpaper is being removed ‘piece by piece’ from the Yellow Drawing Room as part of work in the East Wing. Pictured, the Yellow Drawing Room in 2018 ahead of the work
The Yellow Drawing Room was emptied as part of the decant of the East Wing ahead of the restoration work. Pictured, the room today. The wallpaper has been partially removed
The wallpaper being carefully removed piece by piece, as seen in a video shared on the Royal Family Instagram account. The wallpaper will then be taken and conserved in a studio
Outdated electrics and pipes are being replaced and a lift is being installed to make the wing more accessible.
The wallpaper, which was originally hung in the Brighton Pavilion, will be conserved and preserved by experts before being reinstated in the Yellow Drawing Room following the reservicing.
Speaking on the video, wallpaper conservator Allyson McDermott explained: ‘We are removing the beautiful wallpaper, 19th century century Chinese wallpaper, piece by piece. We will then take it back to our studios to conserve it and preserve it for the future.
She continued: ‘This is the perfect time. The paper is in desperate need of conservation. It is very acidic, very fragile. It is a wonderful opportunity to do it while all of the work is being carried out around the palace.’
The Yellow Drawing Room is part of the East Wing, situated at the front of Buckingham Palace.
The Yellow Drawing Room is part of the East Wing, situated at the front of Buckingham Palace. It was designed for Queen Victoria. Pictured, the East Wing before the First World War
The wallpaper in the Yellow Drawing Room, used by Queen Victoria for entertaining, is so fragile that it could be damaged by tremors. Pictured, the wallpaper after being removed
The wing was designed by Edward Blore in 1840 to provide more entertaining and living space for Queen Victoria and her expanding family.
Blore’s design included the famous central balcony on the front façade of the Palace, which was incorporated at Prince Albert’s suggestion. Since then it has been used on many national occasions, including annually at Trooping the Colour.
The Yellow Drawing Room was used by Queen Victoria for entertaining and is now used for official functions and meetings.
The wing was designed by Edward Blore in 1840 to provide more entertaining and living space for Queen Victoria and her expanding family. Blore’s design included the famous central balcony on the front façade of the Palace. Pictured, the East Wing of Buckingham Palace
It was emptied as part of the decant of the East Wing ahead of the restoration work.
The bill for the work, the biggest refurbishment undertaken at Buckingham Palace since before the Second World War, will be met by taxpayers via the Sovereign Grant – the annual fee paid by the Government to the monarch which this year came to £42million – with a third of the cash set aside for maintaining Royal palaces.
The project involves ten miles of water pipes, 6,500 plug sockets, 500 pieces of sanitary ware (toilet, basins and the like) and 20 miles of skirting board being replaced after experts warned there was ‘serious risk’ of fire and water damage to the palace and the priceless works of art it contains due to palace’s perilous state of repair.