Queen cuts break short to earn a crust!
THE Queen is to vacate Balmoral early as staff seek to recoup some of the £ 18million lost by royal palaces during lockdown.
Income from ticket and souvenir sales expected to plunge by one third this year because of coronavirus.
Last year tourism earned the Royal Household oer £ 70million, but lockdown is set to bring this year’s total to around £ 52million.
In an effort to boost the coffers, Balmoral – the Queen’s Scottish family home in Aberdeenshire – is set to welcome back visitors on October 3.
The Queen has nearly always spent a 12- week break there every year throughout her 68- year reign.
But this year’s sojourn will be much shorter than usual. She arrived on August 4 and will leave next week.
It is thought to cost £ 3million a year to run the 50,000- acre estate and castle, with around half of that income coming from 70,000 tourists.
But revenue is down £ 1million already this year because the castle and grounds did not open as normal at the beginning of April due to lockdown restrictions. The restart of £ 15- a- head tours of the grounds and gardens will help boost income, but visitors will be forced to wear face masks indoors, register for track and trace and adhere to strict social distancing. Tours – restricted to 10 people in each group – will be available daily throughout October and Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Saturdays during November and December.
Although she has been confined to living in a “Balmoral Bubble”, the Queen, 94, and the Duke of Edinburgh, 99, have been visited by most members of her family.
Speaking on ITV’s Our Queen At Ninety, Princess Eugenie, 30, said of her grandmother’s love of Balmoral: “It’s the most beautiful place on Earth. I think Granny is the most happy there.”
A Buckingham Palace spokesman said: “The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh will depart Balmoral Castle during the week commencing 14th September to spend time privately on the Sandringham Estate.”