Prince Charles 'to open palaces to public'

There’s probably some kind of financial angle to this like a tax break or funding of some kind.

[quote] Prince Charles plans to open up royal palaces to the public once he becomes King

Perhaps in 20 or 30 years, Charles darling.

Yeah, I'm not buying that it's 100 percent altruistic. Perhaps the family wants to downsize and is willing to give up a white elephant or two.

1. Indeed, great tax breaks.

2. Only a select few rooms

3. Never all open at the same time

I'm suspicious of this. I would assume then he retains at least one house (like Highgrove) that will remain off-limits to the public.

It sounds like he wants to turn the palaces into theme parks: the United Magic Kingdom.

Fucker better stay away from Kensington Palace. I’m not having the unwashed masses trample over my zinnias. Concheta strained her back planting those. It was hard work.

No. No. No.

They need the money, that's the bottom line.

Why would there be a maid in the UK named "Concheta"?

An immigrant from Ibiza, perhaps??

[quote] the Duke of Wales wants Buckingham Palace, Clarence House, Windsor Castle, Sandringham and Balmoral to be transformed

Oh dear, oh dearie me.

Who is that twink?

[quote] Why would there be a maid in the UK named "Concheta"?

More likely, she would be a heavy-set Polish woman named Magda.

I'd love to snoop around Buckingham Palace.

You can snoop around Osbourne House and it's totally as it was when Queen Victoria lived there, down to the pens on the desk. You can even see her loo.

[quote] Why would there be a maid in the UK named "Concheta"?

When you’re using mail-order maids, you can’t be too choosy where they come from. Liz got a bit tight with the household expenses. I wanted a Polack girl because they are some sturdy girls, they could lift an ox if they had to, but my only choices were Concheta or a Hungarian.

More to the point, why was the under-house parlor maid doing yard work?

Over my dead body!

[quote] Who is that twink?

I was wondering the same thing.

Charles seems REALLY into both of them.

Charles is very gay-friendly.

He’s an old man, and I bet he will continue to live at Highgrove, with Windsor as his official home.

The current generations of the Royal Family have never really considered Buckingham Palace to be home, and the grounds would make another wonderful park for central London. I bet it will happen.

I can’t imagine anyone wanting to visit Sandringham. It’s a squat, ugly house, like a Victorian hospital.

[quote] More to the point, why was the under-house parlor maid doing yard work?

Ever since the Halfrican told the world that Buckingham Palace had an HR Department, it’s been difficult to retain staff.

[quote] the Halfrican

Lol

Will Jason Knauf be involved?

[quote]Charles is very gay-friendly.

So AM I!!

Jason was born in Hunstville, Texas. It is believed Jason left his role because his husband has taken up a diplomatic position overseas.

Sounds like he won't be involved.

Sounds great. I can hardly wait until Charles is King and I can rent Buckingham Palace for my wedding and we can fill it with my Daddy's supporters.

Why do people live so lucky fuckin long? Htf can she still be walking around damn near 100 years later?

Wonder how many meds they pump in her every day...

Maybe now is the time to turn Buckingham Palace into a visitor attraction. Given that The Queen has been at Windsor during the pandemic, now maybe the time to let go of it for day to day official use and residency.

With The Queen conducting a lot of business by Zoom, now might be the time to downsize.

They need to do something. Covid has lessoned people's tolerances. Jet setting unemployed complaining Royals who moan about how much work they have to do doesn't really cut it anymore. Their declining popularity in polls confirms change is needed.

Will Frogmore Cottage be opened too?

R29 I think Eugenie and Jack might object.

Euge and Jack are in KP; they had to get out so Harry had a place to stay for Philip's funeral.

Sandringham and Balmoral are private homes so this would put money directly into the RF’s pockets

It’s not a popular point of view, but I think the royal family should be careful about downsizing too much. Monarchy is about display, performance and mystique as much as anything. Those who visit Buckingham Palace (which is off-limits for most of the year) for garden parties and investitures are given a nice feeling of entering into a space which is forbidden to most people. If an invitation to visit the sovereign becomes akin to visiting a municipal building, the monarchy will lose a large part of its raison d’être.

Have none of you ever been to a national trust property like Castle Howard or Chatsworth? The majority of the house and grounds open year round but there's usually a closed family wing. That's what Charles will be planning for. You won't be looking round his bedroom.

Castle Howard and Chatsworth are not National Trust properties.

He is the prince of Wales, not duke.

We know R36, see R10.

r35 True But its the same principle though open the house to the public to fund it while the family still live there. The bigger houses just tend to be their own trusts as they have more land and draw I guess. It'll certainly boost his finances if he needs it.

Chaz is going to need a lot of money to pay off Harry and Meghan. Unfortunately, in common with all blackmail cases, what he pays will only ever be an instalment.

Jesus, Charles. You don't want to move too quickly!

Why doesn't Charles make a move to open up the palaces now? Get some cash flow going (in addition to all of his other cash flow resources). The queen could live another five years. Why wait until he's king? Do it now.

Can they declare Chateau Montecito a palace and open it up to the public?

r40 I'm assuming Liz said it'd happen over her dead body. Luckily for Charles he's used to waiting for that.

Why not? He's opened his areshole to every gardner, chauffeur and stable boy from here to Sussex.

I’m going to apply to be a tour guide.

Have they mothballed up Frogmore Cottage then?

I thought Eugenie and Jack were living there now.

Nope, Eugenie and Jack never lived there in the end, though they announced at one point they would.

Ahhh I see.

So is it shut up now then? Seems a shame no one will make use of all those refurbishments.

I don’t think Charles is big on Balmoral and Sandringham, Highgrove, Clarence, and his grandmother’s castle are his favorites. He’s also not that close with the larger family so the annual retreats in the summer and Christmas with extended relatives might be a thing of the past. He’s has decades to come up with his own circle of friends, he doesn’t need the extended family of his mother’s cousins.

Balmoral and Sandringham are private property.

I wonder if Charles will want to sell them to downsize, if he doesn't like them. William I can see wanting to keep Sandringham as his house is on the estate.

He can still open them up. Sandringham would likely do pretty well with tourists. Balmoral he could probably rent out for shooting parties I think that's what half the big houses in Scotland do now.

Sandringham used to be open to the public, or was that just the gardens not the house?

Isn’t there an episode of Downton Abbey about pretty much thus exact same thing?

R51 You can certainly tour the gardens and house.

It's hard to hate Charles' vision for the future of the royal family. He's had a lifetime to think about it and to see what works and what doesn't work.

[quote]Maybe now is the time to turn Buckingham Palace into a visitor attraction. Given that The Queen has been at Windsor during the pandemic, now maybe the time to let go of it for day to day official use and residency.

I agree and we could use a nice new park

Londoner

sorry it's one thirty in the morning here

Sandringham and Balmoral are privately owned by the Queen & will pass down to Charles. Buckingham Palace is large enough to be opened for tours while the family is in residence while easily keeping prying eyes away from the family. That would probably be more difficult with Balmoral and Sandringham. I would assume they would open those properties only during the months none of the family is there.

I think Charle will want to carry on living at Clarence House, so they could throw open Buckingham Palace without him living there.

It's difficult to work out what its use will be post pandemic. How do you have a socially distanced state visit? How do you Troop the Colour without amassing big crowds? Will we see the like of the Jubilees again?

THE DUKE OF WALES OP !

I'm sure Wills, who ought to be given Clarence House for his and his family's use, will be thrilled to realize Daddy has the Bumfucks of Wiltonbury-Hatchtwat staying with the Cambridges for three weeks because they won a raffle.

Who owns the mortgage on Montecito: if it's the Duchy then Montecito with its 16 bathrooms may have to be opened to tourists also?

This is not such a big deal.

The same thing is done with the White House.

It's a residence for the President, but it also allows for tourist visits, etc.

If the BRF can make money from it, then why not?

Charging admission. Will they be paying taxes on this windfall?

They shouldn't be allowed to charge anything.

A perfect marriage of monarchy and capitalism.

R63 at least for the official ones like Buckingham Palace and Windsor, I’d imagine there would be no taxes because the money would go to the up keep of the properties, so that the taxpayers wouldn’t have to pay for it. He could always form a trust to actually own and maintain the private ones so that again the money would not be taxed.

Making a profit on these places is impossible. The income will be swamped by the deductibles. There will be losses and carry-forward with depreciation and all kinds of tax perks. What can one expect now that the Queen decided to pay taxes; a decision Charles is unlikely to reverse. The decision to pay taxes really means access to all the allowances.

How does Charlotte feel about this?

It is about to be decided in the Privy Council of Canada that Charlotte will become the Governor-General for life from age 16.

[quote] How does Charlotte feel about this?

She's busy looking for a date on Tinder.

How about now, Justin, R68?

[quote[ The income will be swamped by the deductibles

That's not overly a worry with the royal family when the Tories are in charge. And if the Windsor's ever actually get kicked out they're getting a pretty good settlement.

[quote] the Windsor's

The Windsor's what?

the Windsor's are drunk... Like me.

[quote]How does Charlotte feel about this?

Charles may open up the houses, but Charlotte is shutting down that shit as soon as Charles kicks off, which Charlotte is also working on as we type.

Charlotte will be too busy with cock action to care about old houses FFS.

Spill the TEA, George (aka R75).

Lol R72.