<P> The most seriously damaged rooms had largely been emptied of their valuable contents the previous day, and some paintings were on loan to a travelling exhibition . Items from the Royal Collection lost include the Sir William Beechey equestrian portrait George III and the Prince of Wales Reviewing Troops, which at 13 feet (4 m) by 16 feet (5 m) was too large to remove; an 18 - foot (5.5 m) long 1820s sideboard by Morel and Seddon; several items of porcelain; several chandeliers; the Willis organ; and the 1851 Great Exhibition Axminster carpet was partly burnt . Peter Brooke, then Secretary of State for National Heritage, called the fire a national disaster . </P> <P> Tourists were allowed into the precincts within three days . The Queen was back in residence a fortnight later . The Gallery and Queen Mary's Dolls' House reopened in December . The State Apartments reopened in 1993 after rewiring was completed, with all major rooms open by Easter, when only St George's Hall and the Grand Reception Room stayed closed . Thus eleven of fifteen principal rooms of the State Apartments were open, and two were still undergoing long - term restoration, with two more having been destroyed . </P> <P> It was initially feared that it would cost £ 60 million to restore the castle, though the final cost was £ 36.5 million (equivalent to £ 58,451,717 in 2016), and that drying out the castle would take 10 years . Occupied royal palaces like Windsor Castle are too valuable to insure, and items in the Royal Collection are not insured against loss . An independent trust for private donations towards the cost of the restoration was announced on 16 February 1993 by the Queen's bank, Coutts . On 29 April 1993 it was announced that 70% of the cost would be met by charging the public for entry into the castle precincts and £ 8 for admission to Buckingham Palace for the next five years . The Queen contributed £ 2 million of her own money, and she agreed to start paying income tax from 1993 onwards, making her the first British monarch to do so since the 1930s . </P> <P> On 7 June 1994, details of the restoration project were announced . The architectural firm Donald Insall Associates was appointed by the Royal Household to take overall charge of the restoration, with Sidell Gibson dealing with the reconstruction of St George's Hall and the design of the new Lantern Lobby and Private Chapel . Over half the damaged and destroyed rooms, including the State and Octagon dining rooms, were to be restored as original . There were to be new designs for the St George's Hall ceiling (with steel reinforcing beams in the roof) and East Screen, also the Queen's Private Chapel, Stuart and Holbein Rooms . However, only the Queen's Private Chapel and several modern rooms were to be restored in a modern style . </P>

Who paid for the restoration of windsor castle
find me the text answering this question