King Charles' decision to turn down the heating at Buckingham Palace has apparently caused panic in the art world as concerns have been raised over the maintenance of the monarch's paintings.
The King is a keen environmentalist and had thermostats set to 19C at the palace and other royal homes as he plans to cut down on emissions and is also buckling down on royal expenditure.
However, the artists of the world are concerned about what his new changes to the palace will mean for the famous paintings he keeps there as the new temperature is now two degrees below the recommended level for paintings.
Rembrandt's The Shipbuilder and his Wife, which was a favourite of the late Queen Elizabeth's is among one of the iconic works of art that lies inside Buckingham Palace, the Express reports.
Curators have calculated that the optimum temperature for keeping paintings in their best condition is between 21-24C and that damage is very possible to occur if temperatures are kept too high or too cold, according to Daily Mail diarist Ephraim Hardcastle.
The writer asked: "Surely the Surveyor of the King's Pictures would know that? Alas, that post was axed in 2020."
Sovereign Grant accounts published this week highlighted a series of the monarch's new sustainability efforts including: "A concerted effort to reduce occupied room set points to 19C during the winter, as well as educate staff to turn down the temperature in vacant rooms to 16C and be more aware of the potential for reducing heat loss."
Before becoming King, Charles spoke very passionately about the importance of the environment and his plans to tackle climate change and protect wildlife.
The monarch even recycled his bathwater at Clarence House and runs his Aston Martin on sustainable fuel.
The Sovereign Grant accounts show the King has started his reign with royal expenditure which is funded by the taxpayer, rising for the second year in a row.
Net expenditure has increased by £51.m, or five percent to £107.5m for 2022-23.
Royal aides allege this was due to King Charles ascending the throne, inflation and the continued costs of updating the plumbing, wiring and heating at Buckingham Palace.
The Sovereign Grant remained the same at £86.3m during 2022/23.
A core element of £51.8m funds the King's official duties and his household which works out around 77p per person in the UK.
An extra £34.5m goes towards ongoing servicing costs for the palace.
The accounts show that the royal household has once again failed to meet its diversity target of drawing 10 percent of its workforce from ethnic minorities with the 2023 figure of 9.7 percent staying the same as last year.
Payroll costs were one of the biggest annual increases in expenditure during 2022-23, rising £3.4m to £27.1m with staff receiving a pay rise of around five to six per cent.
The workforce increased to pre-pandemic levels as royal activities started up again following the Covid lockdowns.
The monarch has also ordered for numerous royal homes that are not being used to be emptied, including Harry and Meghan's former residence Frogmore Cottage which the Duke and Duchess handed the keys back to earlier this week.
A Buckingham Palace spokesman confirmed that the Sussexes' belongings had been shipped over to the US and they no longer have a home in the UK should they wish to return.
He would however not speculate on the next tenant, with reports claiming there is an ongoing feud between King Charles and Prince Andrew as the Duke of York refuses to obey his older brother's orders and vacate his Royal Lodge home.
Sir Michael Stevens, Keeper of the Privy Purse, described the past 12 months as a "a year of grief, change and celebration" unlike any the nation has witnessed for the past "seven decades".
He added: "These past 12 months have taken us from the Platinum Jubilee in the summer of last year, to the sadness of the death of Queen Elizabeth and the accession of our new sovereign in the autumn, via an incoming and outgoing state visit and many months of work in preparation for the coronation of their majesties King Charles and Queen Camila in the spring of this year."
A palace spokesman said: "His majesty has obviously supported the strategic direction of the royal households in its attempts to achieve net zero."
He added: "In the short term though, it is all about reducing our emissions where we can control our emissions and in adjusting room temperatures, whether that's during the working week or whether that's a limiting of the effect of heating on weekends.
"Or whether it's turning off the gas lamps where it's safe to do so, as a precursor to changing them over to electric operation, or indeed if it's the case of turning the heating off on the swimming pool - these are all areas which are about the steps that we can take to reduce our emissions."
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