PRINCE Charles is set to “live in a ‘flat above the shop'” after Buckingham Palace is allegedly thrown open to the public when he is King.
In a bid to radically overhaul the Royal estate, the monarch will be left in less-than lavish living arrangements as the Palace is opened up to the public, it’s been suggested.
Prince Charles is also planning to move the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge to Windsor Castle, because its position in the Heathrow flight path makes it “too noisy” for him.
It will be a property move that the Cambridges are said to want, according to a friend of the royals.
And there are talks that Balmoral could turn into a “museum” dedicated to the Queen as part of the property reshuffle.
As well as slimming down the monarchy, the “property question” is also on the “to do list,” a source told the Mail on Sunday.
The source said: “The central point is: when the Queen is no longer here, how do you effectively spread two generations of the family across quite a large number of properties?
“The Prince of Wales strongly believes that these places have got to deliver something for the public beyond just being somewhere for members of the Royal Family to live.
“Everything is seen through the lens of the question: ‘What value is this offering to the public?’
“Everybody recognises it makes no sense to run so many residences but if you give them up entirely you will never get them back when Prince George and the younger Royals grow up and need somewhere to live.”
Buckingham Palace, which is undergoing a ten-year, £369 million renovation, is set to be opened up for public access all year-round.
This means that the Monarch’s living quarters, which currently include 52 Royal and guest bedrooms and 188 staff bedrooms, will be dramatically cut in Prince Charles’ radical new change.
A friend of Charles told the paper: “Despite what everybody thinks about him not wanting to live there, he will certainly have accommodation there – but it will be a much more modest flat-above-the-shop situation akin to that of the Prime Minister at Downing Street.
“Both the Prince and the Duchess of Cornwall are very practical and see that the reigning Monarch must live at Buckingham Palace, otherwise it would become like Hampton Court.”
Charles official residency at Clarence House was at first going to be given to Harry – but plans changed after he and Meghan Markle quit the royal family and moved to California.
But a source added: “No one is terribly fond of Clarence House because it’s still seen very much as the Queen Mother’s place.”
CROWNSIZE
Meanwhile in Scotland, there are talks that Balmoral may be opened up as a museum dedicated to the Queen once Charles takes the throne.
Balmoral – which is the Queen’s favourite – is closed to the public in the summer, but under Charles, there is set to be far greater access to the royal grounds.
Just yesterday, the Queen today spoke publicly about Prince Philip for the first time since his death while in Scotland.
Her Majesty, 95, recalled the “many happy memories” she and her husband shared as she officially opened the new session of the Scottish parliament at Holyrood yesterday morning.
She told MSPs in the socially distanced debating chamber: “I have spoken before of my deep and abiding affection for this wonderful country, and of the many happy memories Prince Philip and I always held of our time here.
“It is often said that it is the people that make a place, and there are few places where this is truer than in Scotland, as we have seen in recent times.”
The Duke of Edinburgh, who died two months’ before his 100th birthday, had a number of connections to Scotland.
He was educated at Gordonstoun, which led to the Duke of Edinburgh award scheme, and took annual breaks in Balmoral with the Queen.
