From gilded canopies to hand-painted ceilings, royal bedrooms showcase the fashions of the day and display spectacular craftsmanship only immense wealth and power can buy.
However, these intimate spaces offer more than opulence – they're portals into the past that reveal the personalities of their regal occupants.
Click or scroll on to discover the drama beyond the décor: stories of love, intrigue, and even death – all played out against 23 lavish backdrops...
Known as Longshanks for his remarkable height, Edward I ruled England from 1272 to 1307.
His bedchamber in St Thomas's Tower looks much as it did back in the 13th century – right down to the bright colours inspired by medieval manuscripts and the positioning of the bed close to the fire for maximum warmth.
The king's furniture could be easily dismantled as the royal court moved frequently. In fact, Edward I only stayed at the tower for 53 days during his 35-year reign.
Henri III ruled France from 1574 until his assassination in 1589. Formerly king of Poland, he faced intense conflict during the French Wars of Religion.
Despite political turmoil, he was known as a patron of the arts, which is reflected in this sumptuously decorated bedroom. It features an almost life-sized portrait of Henri and a floor adorned with the letter H.
Henri had his rival, the Duke of Guise, assassinated in the royal apartments at Blois – perhaps in this very room.
A formidable character, Anne of Austria was queen of France from 1610 and served as regent for her son Louis XIV from 1643 to 1651. A Habsburg princess, she navigated court intrigue, war, and rebellion to secure absolute power for her son.
After Louis XIII died, freeing Anne from a cold marriage, she moved into the Queen Mother's apartment at Fontainebleau, once occupied by Marie and Catherine de' Medici.
It's adorned with vibrant tapestries, ornate ceilings, and portraits of Anne and her daughter-in-law, Marie-Thérèse of Austria.
Tsar Michael I of Russia was the first Romanov tsar, elected in 1613 after a period of catastrophic famine, foreign invasion, and civil unrest. His reign restored stability and began more than 300 years of Romanov rule.
Tucked away on the fourth floor of the Terem Palace in the Moscow Kremlin, his bedroom is known for its incredible vaulted ceilings and floral murals.
These days, the Terem Palace is part of the Russian president's official residence and is closed to the public.
Louis XIV ruled France for 72 years during the Great Century. Better known as the Sun King, he chose the sun as his emblem, symbolising his position at the centre of France as absolute monarch.
Louis' divine authority was expressed through opulent art and architecture, such as his magnificent bedroom at Versailles. It was filled with gold and silver brocade and stucco smothered in gold leaf.
The room hosted daily rituals, like the king’s ceremonial rising and retiring, as well as meetings with important guests.
As the last king of Poland, Stanisław II August was forced to abdicate in 1795 and saw his country carved up between its neighbours.
Despite a difficult reign, his royal apartments were lavishly decorated in the Enlightenment era's refined classical style and included a collection of paintings by Bernardo Bellotto, Canaletto's nephew.
The original 16th-century castle was destroyed by the Nazis in 1944 and rebuilt after the war. The rooms have been faithfully recreated and filled with recovered and restored antiques.
Marie-Antoinette was just 14 when she married the future Louis XVI in 1770, and became Queen of France four years later.
She gave birth in this royal bedchamber before a crowd of attendants and officials, just as Queens Maria-Theresa and Marie Leszczyńska had done before her. The unpopular monarch replaced their furnishings with her own, infusing the room with her signature opulence.
Marie-Antoinette came to symbolise royal excess during a time of revolution – something her extravagant design style did nothing to help – and she was executed in 1793.
Following 12 years as a Republic, France welcomed Napoleon Bonaparte as its first emperor in 1804.
His bedroom at Fontainebleau was built in Louis XVI’s former washroom. With gilded bed columns, rich emerald green fabric, and figures of Roman deities, the décor was heavily inspired by Ancient Rome and Egypt. As such, it's a great example of the First Empire style, which evolved during Napoleon's reign.
It was in this room that the emperor tried to poison himself when he abdicated in 1814.
Despite narrowly escaping execution during the French Revolution, Joséphine de Beauharnais rose to power when she married Napoleon Bonaparte and became France's first Empress.
Though their marriage lasted just six years, Joséphine left her mark on the country's royal residences. While this bed – adorned with cupids – had been Marie-Antoinette's, Joséphine added the silk wall fabrics.
The room featured symbols of fertility, such as flowers and young animals. However, Joséphine's perceived failure to produce an heir led to her split from Napoleon in 1810.
Joséphine bought the Château de Malmaison near Paris in 1799. It became the couple's private retreat and briefly acted as the seat of the French government.
Draped in crimson and gold, Joséphine's bedroom harks back to antiquity, which is echoed by the statues, columns, and Pompeii-inspired frescoes found elsewhere in the home.
A perfect example of early 19th-century Empire style, the room nods to Joséphine's love of botany, which she indulged after her marriage break-up, filling the gardens with rare exotic plants.
Empress Marie Louise became Napoleon's second wife in 1810, less than three months after the nullification of his marriage to Joséphine.
This bedroom at Château de Compiègne was originally designed by Joséphine and appears just as it did when Marie Louise stayed there. Like Joséphine's bedroom at Fontainebleau, the décor focuses on fertility, including golden cherubs and a bedframe featuring cornucopias.
Marie Louise chose not to follow her husband into exile following his abdication. Instead, she became the Duchess of Parma and married twice more after Napoleon's death.
Imagine the vivid dreams you'd have sleeping in this colourful room. A riot of kaleidoscopic stained glass and intricate patterns, this bedroom belonged to Maharaja Takhat Singh and is one of the most distinctive rooms in Mehrangarh Fort, Jodhpur.
Takhat Singh was the Maharaja of Jodhpur from 1843 to 1873 and was the last ruler to live in the spectacular stronghold.
His room showcases traditional Rajput craftsmanship and Victorian style, including wall and ceiling paintings of religious and hunting scenes.
Empress Elisabeth of Austria, known as Sisi, was regarded as the most beautiful princess in Europe when she married her cousin, Emperor Franz Joseph, in 1854.
The Emperor built his free-spirited wife Hermesvilla, a "castle of dreams" in Tiergarten, Vienna. Sisi's bedroom was filled with gilded frescoes by Gustav Klimt and Franz Matsch, and was dominated by this bed, once owned by Empress Maria Theresa.
Elisabeth was tragically assassinated in 1898. However, her legend lives on in the film Corsage and the Netflix series The Empress.
One of history's best-known monarchs, Great Britain's Queen Victoria oversaw a time of extraordinary industrial and cultural change.
She visited Paris in 1855 to strengthen ties with Napoleon III after almost 50 years of Anglo-French tension. During her stay, she was honoured with a lavish 1,200-person ball at Versailles, featuring four orchestras and fireworks.
Though she stayed at the nearby Château de Saint-Cloud, this room at the Grand Trianon was specially prepared for her, adorned with furniture once owned by Empress Joséphine.
Carlota of Belgium became Empress of Mexico when her husband, Maximilian, was crowned by Napoleon III in 1864.
Although her bedroom in Chapultepec Castle, Mexico City, was decorated in a European style, Carlota genuinely admired local art and culture. However, the people of Mexico ultimately rejected the couple's rule and eventually executed Maximilian – despite Carlota travelling across Europe pleading for help.
As a result, she suffered a mental breakdown and spent the rest of her life living in seclusion in Belgian and Italian castles.
The eccentric King Ludwig II ruled Bavaria from 1864 and eschewed politics in favour of theatre, opera, and elaborate building projects.
His bedchamber at Linderhof Palace reflects his obsession with French King Louis XIV, featuring a vast canopy bed beneath a ceiling fresco of the Sun King’s apotheosis. Gold embroidery adorns the bed and wall panels, making it the palace’s most expensive room.
Ludwig’s love of opulence extended to Herrenchiemsee Castle, where his bedroom was equally lavish and gilded.
Known as the Fairytale King, Ludwig built extravagant castles like Neuschwanstein, which inspired Disney’s Sleeping Beauty castle.
Nestled in the Bavarian Alps, Neuschwanstein remained unfinished when Ludwig died mysteriously in 1886. However, he did sleep in this spectacular bedroom, decorated with scenes from composer Richard Wagner’s Tristan and Isolde.
A silver-plated swan-shaped fountain delivered spring water to the room, referencing another Wagner opera, The Swan Knight, which inspired the castle's name. This wooden bed canopy is said to have taken six craftsmen four years to carve.
Queen Victoria and her beloved husband Prince Albert bought the Balmoral estate in 1852 and built a baronial-style castle that would become the family's "dear paradise in the Highlands".
After Albert died in 1861, aged just 42, Victoria mourned deeply, famously wearing black for the rest of her long life.
This photo was taken in her early widowhood and – while photos of her nine children adorn the walls – a portrait of Albert hangs on her bedhead, so the queen could continue to lie beside him.
Queen Dona Maria Pia started out as an Italian princess before marrying King Luís I of Portugal in 1862.
A deeply compassionate soul who championed hospitals and orphanages, she was also known for her extravagant spending. She famously declared to parliament, "If you want a Queen, you have to pay for her".
Her bedroom in Lisbon’s Ajuda Palace, lined with blue silk and adorned with silver decorations, reflected Napoleonic elegance. The polar bear rug, now controversial, symbolised 19th-century wealth and fascinated palace visitors.
A highly influential philanthropist who advocated for women's welfare, Queen Kapiʻolani was Hawaii's penultimate queen, serving her country for 20 years until her husband, King Kalakaua, died in 1891.
Kapiʻolani was the first queen of any nation to visit the White House, when she was received by President Grover Cleveland in 1887. She also represented Hawaii at Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee in England.
Her bedroom was the epitome of Victorian taste, with heavy mahogany furniture and regal red curtains and upholstery.
A granddaughter of Queen Victoria, Victoria Eugenie of Battenberg, became Queen of Spain when she married King Alfonso XIII in 1906. Their marriage got off to an inauspicious start when the newlyweds survived an assassination attempt upon leaving the church, which killed 24.
The Royal Palace interiors are filled with Rococo and Neoclassical décor, including rich silks and showstopping chandeliers, which can all be seen in Victoria Eugenie's feminine pale pink bedroom.
Ultimately rejected by the Spanish royals, Ena – as Victoria Eugenie was known – is the subject of a 2025 Spanish TV drama.
Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi, Iran’s last monarch, ruled from 1941 to 1979. His attempts to westernise Iran fuelled unrest, which led to his overthrow during the 1979 Iranian Revolution.
Despite the Shah's desire to modernise Iran, he certainly enjoyed the traditional trappings of royal life. His extraordinary bedroom in the Shahvand Palace – also known as the Green Palace – in Tehran glimmers from floor to ceiling, thanks to its intricate mirror work.
Handwoven carpets, elegant stucco details, and antique furniture all speak to the former ruler's refined taste.
After marrying Prince – now King – Charles in 1981, Princess Diana quickly became "the people's princess" thanks to her charm, beauty, and charity work.
After her marriage, Diana continued to visit her childhood home, the 90-room Althorp House in Northamptonshire. Her favourite room was the King William bedroom. Elegantly decorated in soft yellow and blue, the serene room must have been a haven for the princess during her turbulent marriage and divorce.
The beautiful bedroom was named after King William III, who reportedly stayed there in 1695.
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