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Princess Beatrice's Student Housing Costs Taxpayers Almost $500K |
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June 30, 2009
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Britain's Princess Beatrice's student housing cost taxpayers Ł300,000 [$497,000]. The 20-year-old royal - who is fifth in line to the throne - lived in an apartment in St James' Palace for her first year of student life at London's Goldsmiths College, where she is studying for a BA in History and History of Ideas. It is thought she didn't want to take up a place in the college's halls of residence or rent her own flat because of how much security would cost. However, the major renovations she ordered in Apartment No 2 - which was previously occupied by a senior royal official - ended up being even more expensive. Before Beatrice - the eldest daughter of Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson - moved in, the whole flat was redecorated, complete with a new kitchen and bathroom and timber flooring in the two main reception rooms. Justifying the cost of renovating the apartment, a senior official told Britain's Daily Mail newspaper: "It was very unimpressive and last decorated a long, long time ago.'" "We had been hoping to do the work for some time but had to wait until the existing tenant moved out." "People have this image of what a palace apartment looks like but the reality is very different. It is a small set of attic rooms reached only by a spiral staircase of 60 steps." "We used money from the government to undertake a basic program of refurbishment and any extra requirements that were more personal to Princess Beatrice herself were paid by the Duke of York or the queen." |
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