Take a virtual tour of Buckingham Palace above.
Buckingham Place is to undergo a £369m refurbishment, the Royal Household has announced. The work will take 10 years and the Queen will remain in residence during the work, which is expected to begin next April.
Old cables, pipes and wiring will be replaced, many for the first time in 60 years.
The work will be funded by a temporary increase in the Sovereign Grant, subject to parliamentary approval.
The Queen spends a third of the year hosting events at Buckingham Palace. Each year the Royal Household welcomes 50,000 guests to state banquets, dinners, receptions and garden parties.
The palace has 775 rooms, including 19 state rooms.
The occupied royal palaces are held in trust for the nation by the Queen but the cost of maintaining them falls on the government.
