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Royal apartment for rent!
Officials are preparing to rent out an area of St. James’s Palace in London – and it’s just around the corner from the chapel where Prince George was christened.
Work is underway at Apartment 29a, royal finance officials revealed Tuesday. Located on the corner of the palace where it borders Marlborough Road and Cleveland Row, the apartment is getting a complete overhaul.
And it likely won’t be the last royal pad for rent, as officials say that there is a possibility that another apartment might be freed up. As the palace tries to maximize income, it is looking at opportunities to continue renting properties on various royal estates.
“We are looking at where we can commercially let properties that are on the estate, and are close but outside the secure cordon, where we can realize greater value,” one source said at a palace briefing Tuesday.
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A palace source tells PEOPLE that the work is still ongoing and it is not ready for rent yet.
It comes as the Public Accounts Committee over at Parliament, which monitors expenditure in public life, called on the palace to save more. Last year, there were questions over the cost of renovations to William and Kate’s London home Apartment 1a at Kensington Palace.
The briefing to royal journalists took place Tuesday in the Billiard Room.
“Sadly, the billiard table had to be sold to make ends meet some years ago,” Sir Alan Reid quipped. “But it would be a great room for billiards. We haven’t changed the name. We’re rather traditional here.”
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