A decade-long, $370 million restoration project at Buckingham Palace has yielded a trove of personal artifacts left behind by former residents and workers. The extensive refurbishment, which aims to update the palace's electrical, plumbing, and heating systems, has been ongoing for ten years and is scheduled for completion next year.
Among the discovered items are a pair of worn worker's boots, blank betting slips for the Littlewoods Football Pool dating back to 1957, and an empty packet of Silk Cut cigarettes, a brand favored by Princess Margaret. Renovators also found a fragment of theatre listings from The Standard newspaper dated 1889, and a ticket to a 'whist drive' organized by the Royal Household's social club in 1949.
Other significant finds include a detailed, typed schedule for Queen Elizabeth II's hosting of a diplomatic reception in 1977, which outlined the royal family's movement in a "clockwise direction" around the ballroom. This document also specified that British guests would be encouraged to mingle with diplomats and detailed timings for drinks service and a ban on smoking in certain rooms.
Pages from the Daily Express newspaper from 1966, reporting on the security at Durham Prison housing the Great Train Robbers, were also uncovered. Historical building materials, such as electrical wire covered with Vulcanised Indian Rubber (VIR) cabling, which posed a fire risk, were prioritized for removal. Approximately 2 kilometers of this aging rubber cabling has been replaced.
Additional items recovered include Minton decorative ceramic tiles from a fireplace hearth, an aged pewter tankard, a bottle of Schweppes Still Malvern English Spring Water, a wooden junction box, and a faded box containing six Christmas cards. These objects, preserved within the palace's structure for decades, offer a tangible connection to the past occupants and their daily lives.