Contained fire at Buckingham Palace

THE FOLLOWING STATEMENT IS ISSUED BY THE PRESS SECRETARY TO THE QUEEN

A small fire which broke out on the evening of Sunday 2 June has been contained.

The fire, in a flat above the East Gallery, was quickly detected at 6:45pm by the Palace's internal automatic fire detection system. The fire brigade was called and the fire was rapidly extinguished.

Nobody was injured and there has been no damage to works of art. There has been some water damage to carpets caused by burst pipes and the damage has been limited to one plastered ceiling and one glazed ceiling.

Three pictures have been removed to another part of the building as a precaution:

Portrait of Queen Charlotte by Benjamin West
Portrait of Mrs. Jordan by Joshua Reynolds
View of Copenhagen by Heinrich Hansen