The Queen pays for £500k Sandringham repairs ‘with her own cash’ after Meghan Markle and Harry’s £2.4m Frogmore upgrade paid for by taxpayers

RENOVATIONS worth £500,000 are underway on the Queen's Sandringham Estate - with the monarch herself said to be footing the bill.

Photos show the extensive repair work being done to the Royal apartments in Norfolk, with scaffolding seen covering half the north end of her retreat.

The move is in stark contrast to Frogmore Cottage, the new Windsor home of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.

Taxpayers have already forked out £2.4million for renovations, which included £5,000 for a copper bath in the Duke and Duchess of Sussex's bedroom.

The couple’s new residence now boasts a designer kitchen as part of the "substantial overhaul", while baby Archie's nursery was said to have been decorated with vegan paint.

The public also coughed up for the kitchen, bathrooms and even fitted wardrobes and storage, as well as a renowned interior designer.

Meanwhile, the refurbishments on the Queen's country retreat show a large white scaffolding tent has been put up over the Royal apartments in the north end.

The lead roofing - virtually untouched since being built in 1870 - is also being replaced for the first time in almost 150 years.

The new roof is expected to be craned into position later.

While a property has stood on the land since Elizabethan times it only has had royal connections since 1862 when Albert Edward, later Edward VII, bought the property as a country home.

It was then almost entirely rebuilt between 1870 and 1900 and the estate extensively enlarged.

Sandringham, along with Balmoral Castle, is a private home of the Queen while Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle are royal palaces.

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Sandringham House is open to the public between April and October but currently visitors are met with a sign that apologies for the disruption as it is surrounded by scaffolding.

“Works are under way on the north end of Sandringham House to repair a large area of lead roofing which has remained untouched since 1870 when the house was built,' it reads.

“It is essential we carry out these works at this time of year when the weather is fair.”