Official Promises Windsor Repairs : Fire: But pledge to use British government funds for the reconstruction comes under attack from Labor Party legislators.

National Heritage Secretary Peter Brooke pledged Saturday to restore historic Windsor Castle to the condition it was in before an hours-long fire severely damaged the northeastern corner of the massive structure.

“The heart of the nation went out to the queen last night,” Brooke said as he toured the blackened ruins of several interior rooms, including those of destroyed St. George’s Hall, the formal site of many state banquets of the past.

“Anybody who returns to her home in the condition which this is--it is a traumatic experience for anybody,” he said.

Brooke called the fire in the castle, which attracts 4 million visitors annually, a “national disaster.” He said the cause of the fire is under investigation.

Brooke’s pledge to use government funds for the reconstruction came under fire from Labor Party members of Parliament, who argued that as reputedly the richest woman in the world, Queen Elizabeth II should pay part of the costs.

Alan Williams, a Welsh MP and member of the powerful Accounts Committee, declared: “The tragic fire at Windsor Castle highlights the ambiguity or sheer inconsistency of the relationship between the monarchy and the taxpayer. The suggestion that the taxpayer might foot the bill raises the question of why the queen, in her private capacity, should not be a taxpayer also.

“The royal exemption covers the inheritance and capital gains taxes as well as income tax. It is unacceptable that existing taxpayers should be required to meet major capital losses, such as this fire, while the royals enjoy the exclusive benefit of all the gains. The fire may be a catalyst.”

Robert Cryer, another Labor MP, added, “If the taxpayer is expected to foot the bill for the repair and replacement of the fabric of the castle, the least the queen can do is make a significant contribution to the costs.”

Windsor Castle dates back more than 900 years and is the British sovereign’s official home. Its name is also that adopted by the Royal Family in 1917, a change from Wettin, the family name of Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, consort of Queen Victoria.

On Friday, the queen and her second son, Prince Andrew, took part in the removal of hundreds of art treasures from the burning structure, bringing them into the castle courtyard.

On Saturday, the queen, accompanied by her third son, Prince Edward, returned to Windsor, dressed in a long, hooded outercoat and rubber boots against the steady drizzle of a gray and gloomy day.

She inspected the ruins of St. George’s Hall, where she has entertained visiting dignitaries at sumptuous sit-down dinners for 200 people. The beamed ceiling had collapsed, as had the wooden floor, and rubble was everywhere.

Smoke continued to drift up from smoldering ruins late into the day Saturday. Blackened timbers, masonry and other debris lay up to six feet deep. The exquisite wooden roof of St. George’s Hall, studded with heraldic shields bearing coats of arms, lay in a mangled mass.

Suits of armor, paintings and marble busts had been rescued, but stone heraldic stands set into the walls were blackened and crumbling.

Deputy Chief Fire Officer David Harper said four paintings--part of the queen’s renowned private art collection--were destroyed, including a vast William Beechey portrait of King George III on horseback.

Harper confirmed that flames were first seen shortly before noon Friday shooting up curtains in the Royal Family’s private chapel. The fire then spread along corridors and void spaces behind walls and ceilings to other rooms, ultimately bursting forth from Brunswick Tower after dark.

Harper said that the sturdy stone walls of the castle remain standing, making reconstruction possible.

Damage to parts of the castle, one of the biggest in the world with 1,000 rooms, was expected to run into many millions of dollars and take years to repair.