Kew Palace, closed for repairs by the Historic Royal Palaces charitable trust (HRP) in 1996, will no longer re-open in 2004 as originally planned. The restoration of the 17th Century Palace, in the Royal Botanical Gardens in west London, has been postponed due to a downturn in income for HRP following the September 11 terrorist attacks. Kew Palace will definitely re-open at some point, said a spokeswoman for HRP, but there has been no date confirmed as yet. We are still very much committed to re-opening Kew to the public, but with the slump in foreign tourists the Trust has lost so much income that everything is dependent on funding, so non-urgent projects have been set aside. HRP, which also runs The Tower of London and royal palaces at Kensington and Hampton Court, is applying for Heritage Lottery funding and appealing for other forms of sponsorship from private parties. The exterior of the Palace, which was once home to King George III, has already been restored using traditional limewashing techniques.
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