Queen Elizabeth’s gas bill up 14%

Queen Elizabeth’s gas bill has risen by 14 per cent.

The 87-year-old monarch has been hit by rising gas bills at both Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle, despite fitting meters to try to keep her usage on track.

Speaking of Buckingham Palace, Mike Stevens — the queen’s Deputy Treasurer — said: ”Heating systems there are antiquated.

”They are over 60 years old — and they do not lend themselves to efficient use of energy.”

Labour MP Nick Smith said: ”I was shocked that boilers hadn’t been changed in Buckingham Palace for 60 years.”

As well as the heating systems, it has been claimed the walls inside Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle are riddled with asbestos as it emerged more than a third of the royal estate has been classed as below its ”target condition”.

Sir Alan Reid, the Royal Family’s Senior Treasurer, admitted it would cost tens of millions to get the royal properties back to their former glamorous states.

He was questioned by members of the Commons Public Accounts Committee after a National Audit Office report revealed Elizabeth will get a 22 per cent increase in income over two years.

Alan hit out at the high energy costs on ”antiquated” boilers which have not been changed for 60 years and admitted there was a ”backlog” of work to do, insisting some jobs have had to be ”prioritized” over others.

He explained: ”I would love to do the whole of the property backlog right away, but we have limited funds, there’s a head of state to support as well as buildings to maintain. We have to make priorities.”