Buckingham Palace has been the home of British monarchs since Queen Victoria, but when King Charles took the throne, he made the controversial decision not to move out of his longtime residence, Clarence House. The palace has been undergoing a taxpayer-funded £369 million (roughly $491 million USD) refurbishment since 2017, but one royal columnist has claimed that “every penny might as well have gone up in smoke.”
The renovations on Buckingham Palace are due to be completed next year, and in the latest issue of the Daily Mail’s “Palace Confidential” newsletter, diary editor Richard Eden wrote about the “grave mistake” The King is making by not moving into Buck House.
“Buckingham Palace will be used for royal events but the King and Queen won’t sleep there,” a source told Eden, who noted he was “worried for the future of the monarchy.”
“Churchill knew the symbolic power of the Queen being at the nation’s home,” he added. “For King Charles to abandon it at a time of peace would be a serious mistake.”
As Eden reported on May 13, Nicky Haslam—an interior decorator and friend of the Royal Family—has spoken out on why The King and Queen should rethink their plans. “Turning Buckingham Palace into an office is wrong. Period,” he said. “It will have no magic.”
“William won't use it either,” Haslam continued. “It stops Buckingham Palace being the jewel in the crown.”
When renovations began, a palace spokesperson insisted that rumors of Charles not moving in were untrue, releasing a statement that read “Buckingham Palace will remain the official residence of the monarch.”
However, as Haslam noted, the Prince and Princess of Wales have made it clear they have no intentions of ever moving back to London. The couple relocated to Windsor in 2022 and have since moved to Forest Lodge, a sprawling estate located in Windsor Great Park. Emily Nash, royal editor at Hello!, also emphasized the Wales family’s decision in a recent piece.
“When they left London for Windsor, William and Kate made it clear that they were doing it so their children could have more green space and freedom,” she said. “That won't change and they have since made it very clear that Forest Lodge will be their ‘forever home’.”
That means that other than the official rooms where state banquets and royal receptions are regularly held, the 775-room palace will be used as office space, rather than a family home. However, Buckingham Palace saw 683,000 visitors in 2025, according to the Royal Collection Trust, and will remain open to the public for tours during select months of the year.
