who paid for the restoration of windsor castle
1992 Windsor Castle fire It was initially feared that it would cost £60 million to restore the castle, though the final cost was £36.5 million (equivalent to £58,451,717 in 2016[11]), and that drying out the castle would take 10 years.[12] Occupied royal palaces like Windsor Castle are too valuable to insure,[7] and items in the Royal Collection are not insured against loss.[13] An independent trust for private donations towards the cost of the restoration was announced on 16 February 1993 by the Queen's bank, Coutts.[14] On 29 April 1993 it was announced that 70% of the cost would be met by charging the public for entry into the castle precincts and £8 for admission to Buckingham Palace for the next five years.[15] The Queen contributed £2 million of her own money,[16] and she agreed to start paying income tax from 1993 onwards, making her the first British monarch to do so since the 1930s.[17]