Foreign Office gets a Bridgerton bonus

Liz Truss loves a good party so it’s perhaps no surprise to read that she supports buying a swanky New York townhouse for British diplomats to entertain VIPs. But the nineteenth century mansion is expected to come at a price – £20 million – at a time when the Foreign Office is desperately looking for ways to cut costs, amid talk of a 20 per cent staff reduction. Luckily, Britain’s hard-pressed mandarins are never short of an idea or two to raise a few bob. 

One such wheeze is hiring out some of the department’s buildings to TV crews to raise thousands in extra funds. In the past five years, the Foreign Office has allowed filmmakers onto its property on some 29 occasions, with studios demonstrating a clear preference for the neo-classical splendour of Lancaster House.  Filming has taken place there 23 times between January 2017 and February 2022, including most notably for Netflix’s hit series Bridgerton where the nineteenth-century palace doubled for Queen Charlotte’s palace.