Prince Charles wants solar panels on Buckingham Palace

OHMYGOSSIP — Prince Charles reportedly wants solar panels to be fitted at Buckingham Palace. The royal residence is to undergo a refurbishment costing £369 million and The Daily Express reports that the Prince of Wales is keen for the ancient property to be made environmentally friendly.

The 68-year-old royal, who is a huge environmental campaigner, is believed to have played a major part in ensuring the palace will have energy efficient features like his own homes, Clarence House and Highgrove.

It comes following the news that Queen Elizabeth has been urged to foot the bill for the renovations. A petition of more than 100,000 people was signed demanding the 90-year-old monarch pay for the repairs, which will take 10 years to complete. The campaign called 38 Degrees is headed up by Mark Johnson, who feels more money should be spent on education and health care rather than the upkeep of the royal residence in London.

He said: “There is a national housing crisis, the NHS is in crisis, austerity is forcing cuts in many frontline services. Now the Royals expect us to dig deeper to refurbish Buckingham Palace.”

Several MPs have also had their say on whether public money should be spent on the project. Labour shadow business secretary, Clive Lewis said: “I think the Queen could contribute quite a bit towards that – she’s one of the wealthiest people in the country. Why not?”

Meanwhile, Royal finances expert David McLure has said he feels Elizabeth should dig into the funds she receives from the Duchy of Lancaster’s Estate.
As the Sovereign, she is expected to rake in £17.8 million next April. He said: “No-one is saying there isn’t an enormous backlog of palace repairs.
“But given the pressure on the public purse at the moment I would have thought they could do it bit by bit out of the existing grant they receive.
“The other option is that The Queen could dip into the money she receives from the Duchy of Lancaster and contribute a few million pounds.
“Yes it’s not a private residence, but as a gesture she could do that.”

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