During a £369m, 10-year refurbishment of Buckingham Palace, workers uncovered a range of everyday objects — from mid-1800s Minton tiles and an 1889 theatre listing to a 1949 whist drive ticket and 1966 newspaper clippings about the Great Train Robbery. Finds also included personal items such as hobnail boots, a pewter tankard and a box of Christmas cards. The project prioritised replacing ageing infrastructure, including vulcanised-rubber wiring and lead pipes, to reduce fire and water risks. King Charles III and Queen Camilla will remain at Clarence House and will not return to live at Buckingham Palace after the works; the palace will continue to host official events while opening up more to the public.
Buckingham Palace Restoration Reveals Century-Old Everyday Treasures
A coil of vulcanised indian rubber cabling, which posed the greatest risk of fire to the building (bottom left), was among the items discovered [PA Media]
Workers on the £369m refurbishment of Buckingham Palace have uncovered a fascinating assortment of everyday objects hidden within the building’s fabric — some dating back to the mid-1800s. The discoveries, made under floorboards and embedded in walls during the 10-year conservation programme, offer a rare glimpse into life behind the palace doors over more than a century.
The pages from the 1966 Daily Express newspaper detailed the prison where the Great Train Robbers were being held [PA Media]
Among the finds were personal items and ephemera: a pair of battered black hobnail boots, a faded box containing six Christmas cards, a pewter tankard, an empty Silk Cut cigarette carton, a bottle of Schweppes Still Malvern English Spring Water and several betting slips. Workers also uncovered blank Littlewoods Football Pool forms from 1957 and a torn West End theatre listing from The Standard dated 1889.
A pair of battered black hobnail boots were found... [PA Media]
Conservation teams located fragments of Minton decorative ceramic tiles from a fireplace hearth, with the design estimated to date from around the mid-1800s. Pages from the Daily Express (1966) detailing the prison where the men jailed for the 1963 Great Train Robbery were held — including images of Durham Prison and a note about paid prison work — were among the newspaper clippings recovered.
Along with a typed schedule detailing Queen Elizabeth II's plans to host a diplomatic reception in her Silver Jubilee year... [PA Media]
A small but telling social artefact — a ticket for a palace "whist drive" dated 14 April 1949 and priced at 6d (sixpence) — was found embedded in masonry. Another notable document was a typed schedule for Queen Elizabeth II’s diplomatic reception during her Silver Jubilee year, 1977, instructing that the monarch would circulate the room in a "clockwise direction" and asking aides to encourage the 350 British guests to mingle with visiting diplomats:
And an aged Pewter tankard [PA Media]
"The British guests will be distributed throughout the State Rooms, except the Music Room and West Gallery, where they should be encouraged to talk to the Diplomats."
The restoration has also prioritized replacing ageing infrastructure. Examples of electrical wiring covered with vulcanised Indian rubber — a known fire risk — were removed and replaced, and work is under way to upgrade lead pipes, boilers and other systems, many of which have not been replaced for around 60 years. Project organisers said many of the historic objects had remained hidden within the palace’s infrastructure until this work began.
King Charles III and Queen Camilla are currently resident at Clarence House, beside St James’s Palace. Palace officials have confirmed they will not return to living at Buckingham Palace once the refurbishment is completed; the palace will continue to host state banquets, garden parties and official receptions, and officials hope the extended works will allow greater public access and longer visiting seasons.
The recovered items — mundane, personal and administrative — enrich the palace’s historical narrative, providing small but vivid connections to the staff and social life that sustained the royal household across generations.
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