Meghan Markle and Prince Harry can finally put their paintbrushes down and relax. Frogmore Cottage has been fixed up! A Buckingham Palace source confirmed that the renovations and repairs to the five-bed home on the Windsor Castle grounds are nearly done.
The palace shared a breakdown of funds that were spent in the renovation work. The royal couple refurbished the interiors of their historic home early this year, anticipating the arrival of their first child, Archie Harrison. Thereafter, they attended to the exteriors, redecorating the external doors, windows and walls, upgrading some outbuildings, re-landscaping the garden and added some more garden lights.
Who Pays?
While the British taxpayers money is used to fund the gross renovation costs, thanks to the Queen’s annual Sovereign Grant, the authorities at Buckingham Palace announced that around $3 million of the public’s money was used. However, things that are “moveable” and in the cottage gardens were funded by Meghan and Harry themselves. All fittings and fixtures were paid for by the royals, added the source; “Furnishings, curtains, — all are paid for separately, and privately.”
Harry and Meghan had turn out their pockets for items deemed too costly for the taxpayers to provide: an upgraded bathroom, kitchen, flooring or fitted wardrobes. If a royal family member needed an upgraded kitchen, then that needs to be provided for privately and the royals would need to meet the costs. For higher specifications, they have to pay extra.
Unexpected Expenses and Repairs
Contrary to previous rumors, there is no yoga studio, or mother-and-baby yoga room with a floating/sprung wooden floor. As with all old homes, Frogmore had its own surprises which kept the royal couple alert.
A major portion of floor joists and ceiling beams were defective and were replaced, adding that the cottage built in the mid-1800s, was converted from a small home into 5 small units that are “dormitory-style”, long before Meghan and Harry even saw it. To make it a suitable family home with official residence, Frogmore had to be brought to its original form. The heating system on the property was out-dated and ineffective and not meeting up to the environmental standards expected today.
The electrical systems were replaced and rewired, even requiring a separate upgraded electrical substation, in addition to the main works on the property. New gas and water mains were inducted to the property, replacing the earlier five separate links immediately. The works were carried out over a period of six month and now Harry and Meghan have a private and cozy home where they can raise Archie. While this $3 million conservation costs are steep for a newlywed’s first home, it’s part of the $55 million spent by the Queen to preserve royal palaces over the past year.
Funding Pains
This conservation work was funded by the annual Sovereign Grant worth $63 million that is given to Queen Elizabeth II by the UK Government to continue maintaining royal palaces on the nation’s behalf, a job that the royal family takes very seriously. The Sovereign Grant covered the work carried out to turn the building into the official residence-cum-home of the Sussex family. Apart from Frogmore, the Sovereign Grant revealed that it cost the British public $103,000 for Harry and Meghan to officially visit Tonga, Australia, Fiji and New Zealand, in 2018.
