Jul 23, 2009, 11:00 GMT
Britain's Queen Elizabeth is to use tourist money to help repair her royal residences.
The 83-year-old monarch plans to use cash from visitors at Buckingham Palace in London to tackle the £40 million backlog following criticisms from MPs, who said she needed to find money to help pay for the work.
She will give £2.2 million to support the £15million-a-year grant she already receives from the government to pay for the upkeep of her palaces.
Until now the Royal Collection - which is responsible for the works of art the queen holds in trust - has taken all the money from visitors to Buckingham Palace to help finance its operations and preserve its treasures.
Money will also be generated from tourists and merchandise sales at several residences, including Windsor Castle, Clarence House and the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh.
The queen will also open Buckingham Palace to visitors earlier each year in a bid to generate more income, especially from American tourists as their children begin the school holidays a lot earlier than kids in Britain.
A senior aide said: "The problem for us is that July is our busiest month with all the garden parties and other things but we are working on that."
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