Row breaks out at Royal Albert Hall over plans that may mean fewer seats for the public

For more than 150 years, spectators have flocked to the Royal Albert Hall to enjoy performances by some of the greatest musicians of the time.

But now the historic concert hall is experiencing its loudest note of discord yet as a major row has broken out over plans to change its Royal Charter.

Critics fear the changes, which require the passing of a new act of parliament, could lead to fewer seats for the public amid concerns that private seatholders are trying to increase their control over the Hall.

The dispute has so far seen two former presidents openly attack the proposals, with insiders warning that the “top level feud” risks dragging the institution “through the mud”.

The Hall has long been dogged by accusations that certain members of its council are “cashing in” on the venue by selling on their tickets at a profit.

While the practice is perfectly legal, some feel the arrangement brings Royal Albert Hall - which is a registered charity - into disrepute and is tantamount to an “abuse of privilege”.

Construction of the central London venue, which was established by royal charter in 1867, was funded by the sale of seats to wealthy benefactors. These seats - which make up around a quarter of the Hall’s audience - remain in private hands.

For ordinary concerts, seatholders are encouraged by the Hall to sell their seats back to the venue at face value if they do not wish to use them. However, there is nothing to stop them from selling them on the open market for several times that price.

Occasionally the Hall is hired out on an "exclusive" basis, meaning seatholders are asked to give up their seats so that the entire audience can be made up of members of the public.

One suggested change to the Royal Charter is raising the voter threshold from 50 per cent to 75 per cent for any decisions about the terms that the Hall can be hired out for exclusive use, where members have to give up their seats.

The Hall said this aims to regularise the practice, which is currently agreed informally on a case by case basis. But critics fear this would make it easier for commercial seatholders to block attempts to give more seats to the public.

The latest quarrel has been sparked by the Hall’s management asking its 329 members for their thoughts on the draft of a parliamentary bill ahead of a special general meeting in September.

This prompted an intervention by former president Jon Moynihan, who wrote to members urging them to vote down certain aspects of the bill that he believes would be “catastrophic” for the Hall.

He warns that while the measures in the bill may “make a bit more money for members for a year or two” they will be “damaging” to the long-term future of the Hall.

Meanwhile, Richard Lyttleton, another former president, described the bill as an attempt by seatholders to “tighten their grip” on the Hall.

"The commercial members are going to extraordinary lengths to protect the constitution which gives them the right to control the Hall," he said.

This week, the Hall’s current president, Ian McCulloch, weighed in by writing to members himself. He explained that he received a letter from a former president who made a “familiar argument…that many members are guilty of an abuse of privilege”.

He then notes the letter from Mr Moynihan stating his opposition to some of the bill’s clauses and adds: “Perhaps having two former presidents manoeuvring against Council in one week is carelessness on my part.”

Some members are understood to be frustrated that the Hall’s management has gone to the trouble of drafting a series of changes to the Royal Charter - but without addressing the issue of ticket re-sales.

“It has whipped up a lot of upset within the Hall,” a source told The Telegraph. “There is this top level feud within the members who sit on the Council and they are dragging the rest of the Hall through the mud."

A Royal Albert Hall spokesman said the organisation is "committed to upholding the highest standards of governance", adding that the Royal Charter reforms "are aimed at benefiting the charity administratively, procedurally and financially".