The fascinating remnants of life in Buckingham Palace in the Victorian era have been found under the floorboards of the Queen’s private apartments during rewiring work.
Electricians working on a £369m rewiring project discovered a discarded scrap of newspaper from November 7 1889 – days before the first jukebox was unveiled.
The page from the Evening Standard discusses the merits of a collection of letters from the Earl of Chesterfield.
Alongside the newspapers, were several cigarette packets from the popular 19th century brands Player’s Navy Cut, Woodbine, and Piccadilly.
It is believed that the items were discarded by courtiers to Queen Victoria.
Workers completing the £370million renovations on Buckingham Palace uncovered this newspaper clipping from nearly 130 years ago
Evening Standard clipping from 1889
The clipping, dated from November 27, 1889, was found in the rooms occupied by the monarch – at this time, Queen Victoria.
She was the Empress of India by this point and her golden jubilee was just two years before. Robert Cecil was the prime minister.
A Palace spokesman said: ‘It was a surprise discovery by the team doing the works. It’s intriguing to consider who might have read these pages.’
In full, the clipping reads: ‘New Work by Lord Canarvon’
To be published on December 10 1889. A limited edition of 525 numbered copies, choicely printed on large hand-made paper, gilt top, rough edges, with a Facsimile Letter of Lord Chesterfield’s, and numerous illustrations in Collotype, handsomely bound in half-vellum extra, price 2/ 12s 6d.
Letters of the Fourth Earl of Chesterfield to his Godson and Successor. Now First Edited from the Originals, with a Memoir of Lord Chesterfield, by the Earl of Canarvon.
These ‘Letters of Lord Chesterfield to his Godson’ have recently come to light, and they are now for the first time printed verbatim, with all their peculiarities of spelling. They are 235 in number, are full of wit and wisdom, humour and playfulness, and the subject-matter is very varied.
The Editor, in a short memoir, sketches the career, public and private, of the writer and his remarks on the Earl’s Irish administration are naturally of peculiar interest. He sums up: – ‘I can honestly say that I began my task with little interest, perhaps with prejudice; I have ended it with strong interest, sympathy) and appreciation’.
The Royal Family Twitter account posted several videos and photos of the items uncovered during the £369million project which began in April 2017.
One of the videos shows rewiring taking place in the audience room, where the Queen entertains her guests, while she was away at Balmoral.
The objects were found during the ambitious renovation project which will see ten miles of water pipes, 6,500 plug sockets, 500 pieces of sanitary ware (toilet, basins and the like) and 20 miles of skirting board replaced.
Experts previously warned there was ‘serious risk’ of fire and water damage to the palace and the priceless works of art it contains due to palace’s perilous state of repair.
The last time the iconic palace was properly refurbished was during the 1950s after it was damaged during bombing in the Second World War.
Posting to social media, the Royal Family Twitter account said: ‘The building work uncovered pieces of history hidden beneath the floorboards at Buckingham Palace including this clipping from the Evening Standard newspaper, published in 1889.’
It added: ‘Also unearthed was a trio of vintage cigarettes packets.’
Costs will total £369million and will be paid for by taxpayers via the Sovereign Grant, the annual fee paid by the Government to the monarch which in 2016 came to £42million.
The work, which began in April last year, is due to be completed in 2027.
In the video programme director Barbara Welch said: ‘Currently we’re undertaking works to remove vulcanised Indian rubber cabling, which we call VIR cabling, that was installed in the late 1940s, so circa 70 years old.
‘The vulcaniser Indian rubber becomes really brittle with age and it cracks and it falls off exposing live electrical cables which is a real fire risk.
‘We don’t have a map that shows us where it all is – a challenge.’
Workers picked the VIR cabling as the first obstacle to tackle as it poses the highest risk to the palace.
The work was completed over the summer as the Queen was staying at Balmoral Castle at the time.
During the video Ms Welch says the audience rooms are directly below the Queen’s private apartments – which is where the newspaper clipping was found.
Palace staff believe the clipping, which comes from a section called The Standard Special Column for New Books, Recent Editions and Clarendon Press New List, is written on a new book by Lord Canarvon.
The book, published in December 10, 1889, was limited edition and cost 12s and 6d.
Other works include letters of the Fourth Earl of Chesterfield to his Godson and Successor which were apparently ‘full of wit and wisdom’ and ‘humour and playfulness’.
One clip posted to YouTube by the Royal Family’s account shows rewiring taking place in the Queen’s audience room
This room is where the Queen entertains her guests. Work was completed while the Queen was away at Balmoral to minimise disruption
Programme director Barbara Welch said: ‘Currently we’re undertaking works to remove vulcanised Indian rubber cabling that was installed in the late 1940s, so circa 70 years old… We don’t have a map that shows us where it all is – a challenge’
The Queen will not have to move out while the work is completed, but she is likely to have to change bedrooms at some point.
Dozens of the Queen’s staff will be put up in Portacabins on the palace lawn while work is completed.
Renovation work hopes to bring the palace up to scratch and ensure that it is fit for purpose for the next 50 years.
The renovation work is a huge task as the palace has 775 rooms, 1,514 doors and 760 windows, alongside a hundred miles of electrical cabling.
The Sovereign Grant, which comes from profits made on the Crown Estate, will be hiked up during renovation period to cover the costs.
The Queen currently gets 15 per cent of the profits from the Crown Estate, with the rest given back to the Government, but this will increase to 25 per cent.
Previously the Master of The Queen’s Household Tony Johnstone-Burt said: ‘We take the responsibility that comes with receiving these public funds extremely seriously indeed.
‘Equally, we are convinced that, by making this investment in Buckingham Palace now, we can avert a much more costly and potentially catastrophic building failure in the years to come.’
It is estimated that the benefits of the upgrade, including longer summer opening hours, more private tours and savings due to the improvements, could be around £3.4 million each year.
The Royal Family Twitter account said: ‘The building work uncovered pieces of history hidden beneath the floorboards at Buckingham Palace’
The three cigarette packets, from the popular 19th and 20th century brands Player’s Navy Cut, Woodbine, and Piccadilly, were found during a renovation project which includes rewiring the palace
The £369million renovations will be paid for by an increase to the Sovereign Grant, which in 2016 came to £42million
None of the iconic palace’s wiring, plumbing and heating have been updated since they were installed in the 1950s. Some of the valves, pictured, are so old they cannot be operated
These vulcanised Indian rubber electric cables are considered to pose a fire risk and need to be replaced ‘urgently’
This water storage tank on the roof of the palace, pictured, has seen better days and will be stripped out and replaced with a new model as part of the refit
The Queen spends around a third of the year hosting garden parties, receptions, investitures and other events at her official home.
She hosts more than 38,000 guests per year at garden parties, and hands out 15,000 awards in ceremonies held at the palace which was acquired by King George III in 1761.
It is hoped that renovations works will also be able to make the palace more environmentally friendly by replacing boilers and reducing its carbon footprint by as much as 10 per cent.
Vulcanised Indian Rubber becomes brittle with age, breaking easily and exposing the wires underneath
The clips from the audience room give a unique glimpse into a room where kings and queens ranging from Queen Victoria to the present day have entertained guests