The man who masterminded the restoration of a royal palace has died after a long battle against cancer.

John Morley was director of the Royal Pavilion in Brighton from 1968 to l985.

He was only 34 when he took up the post after being director of the city art gallery in Bradford.

He had a hard act to follow in Clifford Musgrave who did substanial work in renovating the palace's interior and also wrote the much-acclaimed book Life In Brighton.

Mr Morley, who had also worked at Leicester, Ipswich and Coventry, continued to improve the magnificent building which had been built almost 200 years earlier by the Prince of Wales.

He paid particular attention to the Music Room which had been described as the most beautiful room in Europe.

But disaster struck just when it had been completed in 1975. An arsonist broke into the Pavilion, causing damage estimated at £250,000.

Undaunted, Mr Morley used insurance money to undertake a painstaking restoration of the room.

It took a decade but shortly after completion the 1987 hurricane dislodged a minaret on the roof, sending it crashing through the ornate ceiling of the Music Room. Work had to start all over again.

In the meantime, serious faults had been found in the structure of the tourist attraction which had not received much attention since John Nash had built it.

Mr Morley recommended a major restoration of the whole structure and this was agreed by councillors from all parties. It took ten years and cost £10 million.

He was also in charge of Brighton Museum where he built up the nationally-acclaimed collection of art nouveau objects.

Mr Morley, who was married with three children, left the Pavilion for a top job at London's Victoria and Albert Museum.

He was upset at council plans to reduce the number of directors and merge the Pavilion section with other areas of leisure.

But he continued his close links with Brighton and wrote a book about how the Royal Pavilion had been designed.

Despite being gravely ill, Mr Morley summoned the energy to oppose the way in which the Dome roof had been restored.

Earlier this year, we reported how he had criticised the dark finish as being seriously out of character with the Grade I listed building.

Former Tory councillor Lis Solkhon was a member of the committee which oversaw the restoration.

She said: "He loved the Royal Pavilion and did a tremendous amount for it, especially during the restoration. It was the centre of his life."