William and Kate are hoping to move into Apartment 1A, the 57-room residence once inhabited by Princess Margaret, with their new baby this autumn.
Although the couple are paying for fixtures and finishing – such as curtains and soft furnishings – themselves, the cost of basic building work, such as new heating, electrics and plastering, is being met by money given to the Queen by the government.
Decorating: The taxpayer has spent £1million refurbishing Kate and William's new Kensington Palace home
Home sweet home: Kensington Palace, where the
royal couple have given their apartment a £1million makeover, is
shrouded in scaffolding and coverings
A spokesman for the Duke and Duchess stressed that a close eye was being kept on costs but the work on the roof had been long overdue while the cost of the internal refurbishments have been dramatically increased due to the removal of asbestos.
According to the annual accounts released today the couple were also responsible for the single most expensive foreign visit out of any member of the royal family over the last 12 months.
The couple spent £370,590 on flights during their official Diamond Jubilee tour of Asia and the South Pacific last autumn.
That figure covers the flights taken by their entourage (although not the cost of their police protection officers) both in advance and during the tour itself.
Facade: The fake frontage of Kensington Palace
has been erected while work is being carried out. The enormous canvas -
measuring about 25,000 sq ft - covers the south side of the building
But the Queen’s Keeper of the Privy Purse, Sir Alan Reid, insisted that the monarchy still offers ‘incredibly good’ value for money, costing just 52.5p for every man, woman and child in the country during the year.
A Kensington Palace spokesman: 'This essential structural work needed to be completed whoever moved into the buildings at Kensington Palace.
'Large quantities of asbestos have had to be removed, as well as work on the heating and hot water systems and electrical wiring.
'The last major works in the apartment took place around the time that Princess Margaret and Lord Snowdon moved in more than 50 years ago. The cost of interior decorating and furnishing of course falls to the Royal Family privately.'
Trip: At the weekend William, Kate and pet dog
Lupo got a free ride back to London from a friend flying past their home
in North Wales
Coming in to land: The Duchess of Cambridge can
be seen through the helicopter window (right) as it touches down in
Buckinghamshire
It will take the monarch's income to almost £38million, the second year running that funding from the taxpayer has gone up.
The extra money comes after the Crown Estate posted record profits, of which the Queen gets a share.
Overall the cost to the taxpayer of supporting the monarchy rose by just under £1 million to £33.3 million during the Diamond Jubilee year, Buckingham Palace accounts showed today.
Pay rise: The Queen, pictured yesterday with the
Grenadier in the gardens of Buckingham Palace, is to receive a five per
cent rise in income
The taxpayer funds used to pay for official air and rail travel at home and abroad for members of the Royal Family fell by £500,000 from £5 million in 2011-12 to £4.5 million in 2012-13.
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s Diamond Jubilee tour of south east Asia and the South Pacific was the most expensive foreign tour, costing almost £370,000 when the cost of a reconnaissance trip by members of their household was included.
There was also an increase in spending on property maintenance - money used for the upkeep of royal residences and other buildings - from £8.9 million to £9.1 million.
