The cost to taxpayers of refurbishing the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s Kensington  Palace apartment has quadrupled – to £4million.Building work on the 22-plus room home has soared by £3million in the last year and includes the bill for William and Kate’s new kitchen and several bathrooms, the Mail can reveal.The vast project has seen Apartment 1A, which had been used as office space since the death of Princess Margaret, transformed into a ‘family home’.Although the couple are personally paying for all fixtures and fittings like curtains, carpets and furniture, the cost of building their new bedroom and even Prince George’s nursery has come from the public purse. One courtier last night insisted that the Kensington Palace project actually offered taxpayers ‘great value’ given the state of the crumbling apartment.But questions will be asked as to whether Buckingham Palace, which has forked out for the refurbishment, is spending public money wisely.Cuts to the Queen’s funding led to a dramatic battle between courtiers and the previous Government.Senior officials – who admitted at one point that the monarch was down to her last £1million in the bank – accused ministers of leaving them with a £40million backlog of essential work to royal residences.Just a few years ago Princess Anne was almost hit by a piece of falling masonry in the crumbling courtyard at Buckingham Palace, while staff are regularly forced to use buckets to catch the rain from its leaky roof.(dailymail.co.uk)Bakudailly.az