Why Prince Charles kept his Buckingham Palace plans a secret

What will be done with Buckingham Palace? According to Sunday TimesQueen Elizabeth has moved permanently to Windsor Castle — the first time the Palace has been abandoned by a monarch.

That leaves its future in the hands of Prince Charles, Future King Charles III. He has a dilemma. On the one hand, he is committed to miniaturizing the monarchy, and the Palace is not only vast, but is undergoing lavish refurbishment. On the other hand, Charles believes that living there with Queen Camilla was necessary to establish his authority as monarch.

With Queen ailing but still very much alive, the heir cannot speak of any of this. The most consequential issue, the timing and nature of Charles’ succession, remains unresolved. Queen has said she wants to keep working for as long as she feels she can, but knows when that will be made more difficult by the apparent decline in her energy.