There was still more to come. On 20 November – their forty-fifth wedding anniversary – Windsor Castle was engulfed by flames. Prince Philip was in Argentina at the time on a private visit and could not be contacted immediately. The fire was started by a restorer’s lamp which set a curtain alight. It quickly spread through the Queen’s private chapel and devoured St George’s Hall. Prince Andrew organised the rescue of many of the ancient works of art, but great parts of the building itself were consumed in the blaze. The Queen Mother was lunching at Clarence House when she received the news and as soon as she could leave her guests was driven to Windsor to be with the Queen, who had already arrived from London. Mother and daughter stayed at Royal Lodge that weekend and alone together they could talk over the unhappiness that had recently been thrown at them. The Queen later thanked her mother, saying: ‘It made all the difference to my sanity after that terrible day.’

The castle is Crown property and the fire damaged part of the state apartments, not the Queen’s private rooms. Like other Crown or national properties, Windsor Castle is covered by government indemnity and, not surprisingly, Prime Minister John Major immediately announced that the government would pay for the restoration, as it was the state’s loss, rather than a private one. The decision was greeted with a maelstrom of protest, with even the normally supportive Daily Mail asking: ‘Why should the populace, many of whom have had to make huge sacrifices during the bitter recession, pay the total bill for Windsor Castle, when the Queen pays no taxes, contributes next to nothing?’

Within a week, John Major announced plans that had been in preparation since the summer, and agreed with the Queen and Prince Charles. The civil list, by which all senior members of the royal family were paid a combined salary of £900,000 to cover the costs of their royal duties, would cease, except for the Queen, Prince Philip and the Queen Mother; the rest of the royal family would now be paid for by the Queen. Furthermore, for the first time, she would pay tax on her income from April 1993.

None of this, however, dealt with the immediate issue of paying for the repairs, and so it was eventually agreed in the following spring that the Queen would open the State Rooms of Buckingham Palace to the public during the summer from then on. It was hoped that the £37 million cost of repairs would therefore not need any contribution from the public purse.