Queen's not so cosy home - do you have any clothes that match your furnishings?

What on earth are those tartan curtain thingies either side of the fireplace?

The Queen looks like she's nodding off while waiting for 'meals on wheels'. She'll wake up any minute and shriek, 'Who are YOU?'

The curtain thingies are surely firescreens to protect the ladies' faces from scorching when they're all huddled round the fire because the rest of the room is freezing.

I know it was Queen Victoria's favourite but I really couldn't live with the tartan carpet!

You mean that carpet's been there since Victoria's reign....?

At least it's hardwearing.

That toy corgi looks suspiciously like a hidden camera to me.

Why doesn't she get a more economical heating system! I am sure a convector is not the best! It really look like an 'old persons' room! But then she is getting on!

I expect there is central heating even at Balmoral. The electric thing will be for a boost.

You do all know that Balmoral is only a few km away from Braemar which is one of the most consistently cold places in Britain?

You are taking the piss, aren't you, jess, about HM and her fuel bills? That convector heater and the little electric bar thing will be for extra heat when the CH isn't enough, or for use in summer when the CH isn't on but some extra warmth is needed.

We often need a fire in midsummer.

Crumbs! Is this a serious thread?

#gotitwrongagain

I could hardly see her at all in the picture - camouflaged obviously!

Seriously it is just an old lady's room and she is just that - the only difference is that it is not in a retirement bungalow on the Costa Geriatrica.

Bless her.

I would need to wear a pair of sunglasses as the clashing of the furniture, carpet, rug etc was horrendous. Yes, definitely an old lady's home.

Well, I think it was really mean of that prime minister to let that picture be published. Poor Queenie. She's obviously not very happy with it being taken. I bet that was Mrs Key pulled out her Canon Quickshot and took it without a by-your-leave. So mean! And rude!

The stuffed dog could well be Oxfam-ed.

Her skirt is a different tartan to the carpet. (If you look at the red lines) And I don't believe the orchid is a fake. Looks just looks like mine, except mine has seen better days now.

It's a nice homely picture.

She definitely does not look at all happy. Poor love.

I love the fact that the armchairs have obviously been given new covers - possibly courtesy of Plumbs?

Convector heaters are very efficient.

merlot you didn't get it wrong. It's not a serious thread.

I hate the Daily Mail.

I hate photo editing!

John Key is such a dork.

JessM In answer to your question about matching clothes, curtains and carpets, I can almost answer yes. In my youth I longed for a pair of brocade flares – yes, I know. Anyway, unable to afford to buy them, I made them from some brocade I bought in Ponting's soft furnishings department. The first and only time I wore them, I went to party. The three-piece suite – remember those – in my host's house was covered in exactly the same brocade so every time I sat down, I disappeared from the waist down.

Didn't Queen Victoria do the same ghastly interior design job at Osborne House on the Isle of Wight as well?

I have no clothes to match my furnishings but a neighbour, fed up to the back teeth of trying to remove hairs, bought a new black and white carpet and had her suite recovered, also in black and white to match her border collie.

absent those were the days when we sewed our own flares.
I also like the pink gingham dog bed covers.
The room certainly hasnt's been "designed" has it, just accumulated.
They had the same photo in the Guardian. Mind boggling to think what the CH costs of palaces might be. Bet she has the thermostat on about 12 at most, just to take the chill off.
I think I would look that bored if I was forced to have tea with John Keys. I saw him once, boarding a plane, when he was trying to get elected. Staff trying to get everyone seated for the shuttle to Auckland and JK blocking the aisle , pressing the flesh and being a nuisance.

absent yes I remember three piece suites. I'm sitting on the sofa of one right now. There's me thinking my house was contemporary

Queenie does look miserable. The room looks terrible IMO

Maybe she's dreaming of a trip to IKEA

Funny how stately homes with all the handed down 'treasures' usually end up looking like second hand furniture shops.

Curious mixture though, china Alsatians on the mantlepiece beside a (no doubt antique ) mirror and portraits of Prince Albert and Queen Victoria. She must get awfully fed up of priceless objets d'art - and I bet she likes her "cheenie dugs"!! I beieve the toy corgi was a present for Prince George - just wait till the real corgis give it a good kicking (like Grace does regularly with her teddy!)

In the 70s I had a fondness for Laura Ashley fabrics and wallpaper.

Not once but twice I realised I was wearing a dress in the same pattern as a curtain or a wall.

The worst of it was that I had made the curtains and bought the wallpaper not realising that I had matching frocks in my wardrobe.