IS IT not about time that the nation’s heritage was transferred from the Queen’s palaces to our museums and art galleries where it really belongs and one wouldn’t have to pay extortionate entry fees to view them?

A House of Commons public accounts committee last year revealed the royal household had been dipping into cash reserves (courtesy of taxpayers) to cover overspending. The committee concluded that the royal household was “not looking after nationally important heritage properties adequately” allowing many of them to fall into disrepair; almost 40 per cent of of the royal estates’ buildings were not in an “acceptable condition”.

The committee heard that the state rooms at Buckingham Palace had not been redecorated or rewired since 1952, while the boilers were 60 years old.

Asbestos needed to be removed from significant areas of the building; there were leaks in the roof of the picture gallery. In short, opaque accounting, regular overspending, and crumbling palaces, this is the real story about the state of the royal finances. She’s clearly waiting to be rescued by the taxpayers. A few years ago she attempted to grab £2 million of taxpayers’ money put aside for social housing stock repairs. So much for the idea that the royals are fit and proper custodians of the country’s heritage!

JEFF ADAMS Bloomsbury Swindon