Buckingham Palace State Dining Room closed as inspection reveals 'issue with ceiling'

The State Dining Room at the Buckingham Palace has been temporarily closed due to safety concerns over its ceiling. A beam in the roof of the room on the West side is said to be having some issues.

The problem was identified during a routine survey. "As the result of a routine survey an issue was found with one of the ceiling beams in the roof space of the State Dining Room. Following further assessment, access to the room has been suspended," a palace spokesman said, according to The Telegraph.

The palace's State Dining Room is used for hosting banquets for visiting heads of states. The Royal Collection Trust states that the dining room was built in 1833-34, "but the decoration and fitting-out of the room continued into the early years of Queen Victoria's reign".

Queen Victoria used the State Dining Room for dinners for up to 60 guests, often in connection with a ball, in the first fifteen years of her reign. Hosting stately dinners that also feature display of royal collection of gold plates have been a tradition of the royal family since.

"On such occasions, the table and buffet at the south end were used for magnificent displays of gold plate, much of it from George IV's enormous collection, supplemented on occasions by pieces that the Queen and Prince Albert had acquired themselves," the trust notes on its official website.

It adds: "The buffet arrangement was swept away in the early 1850s to make a route through to the new Ballroom, designed by Sir James Pennethorne and built by Thomas Cubitt under Prince Albert's direction. Thereafter this enormous room took the place of the Picture Gallery for large entertainments."

The adjoin Ballroom and the Picture Gallery were found to be alright and may be used for other official events, which the Queen hosts in the Dining Room, the report said.