As you might expect, being a member of the British royal family usually comes with some pretty regal real estate. When King Charles III inherited the throne from his late mother, Queen Elizabeth II, following her death on 8 September 2022, he gained a collection of beautiful properties that she had lived and worked in across her impressive 70-year reign, as well as stately homes where his extended family now reside. From Buckingham Palace to Windsor Castle, Sandringham and Balmoral, click or scroll on to step inside the private homes of the royals and uncover their secrets...
The Crown Estate reportedly encompasses a portfolio of properties worth a staggering £15.6 billion ($18.8bn), along with a number of privately owned royal homes. However, the building most commonly associated with the British Royal Family has to be the iconic Buckingham Palace. The residence dates back to 1703, when the Duke of Buckingham built a fine townhouse in the capital's fashionable St James's district. Acquired by King George lll in 1762 and lavishly enlarged in the 18th century, it has been the official London residence of the British monarch since 1837 and is one of the world’s most recognisable landmarks.
As well as serving as a headquarters for the British monarchy, Buckingham Palace has been at the centre of national celebrations, and mourning, for the British people, not least the state funeral of the late Queen Elizabeth ll, whose coffin is seen here passing in front of Buckingham Palace for the final time before being laid to rest at Windsor Castle on 19 September 2022.
The King hosted his first State Banquet here on 22 November 2022, welcoming South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa, with all the pomp and ceremony expected of the British royal family. Like the Queen, King Charles views the palace as his ‘flat above the shop’ and it will remain a working and entertaining hub, as well as a tourist attraction, as he settles into his new role.
While the royal family will continue to gather on the iconic balcony to mark national events, as they did here for the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations in June 2022, King Charles does not have any immediate plans to move into the palace. According to reports, major renovation works there are not expected to be completed until 2027 and in the meantime, the King and his wife, Camilla, the Queen Consort, will remain at nearby Clarence House.
The late Queen maintained her presence at Buckingham Palace, carrying out administrative and ceremonial duties during the week here until she left in March 2020 in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic for Windsor Castle to self-isolate with her late husband, the Duke of Edinburgh, and a small number of staff. The new King, according to some reports, has ambitious plans to make the palace more ‘inclusive’ to a modern nation.
The King is thought to favour opening the palace up more to the public, hosting more inclusive events and potentially offering the regal residence as a venue for an episode of Strictly Come Dancing according to sources. The royal couple, who are big fans of the programme, may even have a dance together in the palace’s stunning ballroom, where State Banquets are usually held, reports the Daily Mail.
There's certainly no shortage of space to host such events. Measuring 828,000 square feet, Buckingham Palace comprises a total of 775 rooms, which include 19 staterooms, 52 royal and guest bedrooms, 188 staff bedrooms, 92 offices and 78 bathrooms—none of which are ensuite, a sign of the palace's old-fashioned layout.
King George IV, who extended the palace in the 19th century at significant expense, was big on bling and the gilded staterooms certainly puts Trump Tower to shame. They include the opulent 1844 Room and the White Drawing Room.
Other highlights range from the Throne Room (pictured) and Music Room to the Picture Gallery, which features works by Rembrandt and Vermeer and is currently undergoing a remodel. The palace also boasts 40 acres of grounds, a swimming pool, the Royal Mews stables and the Queen's Gallery, which exhibits 450 paintings at any one time.
All the Queen’s children were born at Buckingham Palace, apart from Princess Anne. However, Prince Andrew, who was born in the Belgian Suite, has, according to reports, been banned by the King from a suite of rooms he was using as a London base, following the Jeffrey Epstein scandal. The Prince is reported to have reached an out-of-court settlement with Epstein victim Virginia Giuffre to avoid going to trial in February 2023, although he has always maintained his innocence. Some sources say that his removal from the palace could also be due to a potential Netflix release entitled Scoop, which will cover his infamous interview and subsequent downfall.
Moving Andrew from the palace may prove interesting as one maid has reported he owns a collection of some 72 teddy bears and is quite particular about how they are treated. Charlotte Briggs, who worked at Buckingham Palace in the 90s said the toys needed to be placed "just right" otherwise "he'd lose his temper", Insider reports. While Prince Andrew may have been given his marching orders, the King and Queen Consort may not be spending too much time at the palace either...
Despite the ongoing renovations atnBuckingham Palace, which are said to be at a cost of £369 million ($444m), it is not certain that King Charles and Camilla, Queen Consort will ever move in permanently. They are said to be very happy at Clarence House and do not see the palace as “a viable future home or a house that’s fit for purpose in the modern world", according to reports.
The King took ownership of the John Nash-designed property in 2002 after the death of the Queen Mother and undertook a £4.5 million ($5.4m) refurbishment, engaging his favourite interior designer Robert Kime and spending a further £1.6 million ($1.9m) of his own money on soft furnishings. The King is seen here in 2018 hosting King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands in the formal living room with its blue-toned furniture, fringed lamps and historic artwork.
Other guests at the residence, which is located on the salubrious boulevard known as The Mall which runs between Buckingham Palace and Trafalgar Square, include former US president Donald Trump and his wife Melania in 2019, during an official state visit. The Royal Standard reportedly flies at both Clarence House and Buckingham Palace when His Majesty is in London.
Often referred to as the late Queen’s “favourite place on earth,” it seemed right and fitting that the much-loved monarch “died peacefully” here at the age of 96 in this beautiful and historic castle with her two eldest children, Charles, now King Charles lll and Princess Anne, by her side. Balmoral has been a royal residence since 1852, when it was purchased for £32,000 ($39k) by Prince Albert and gifted to Queen Victoria.
The Scottish Baronial-style castle, which sits in 50,000 acres of wild Highlands countryside, is decorated in traditional Caledonian style, think lots of tartan, thistle designs and stag antlers. Unlike Buckingham Palace, Windsor Castle and Holyroodhouse, it does not belong to The Crown Estate, which means it is personally owned by King Charles lll.
The final photographs of the Queen were taken a couple of days before her death in the elegant drawing room of Balmoral Castle. Though frail and bearing a dark bruise on the back of her right hand, she looked alert and cheerful, carrying out her duty to the last. Aware that her time was running out, according to royal commentator Gyles Brandreth, she rallied to appoint Liz Truss as the new prime minister, following the resignation of Boris Johnson.
While Balmoral Castle itself will perhaps never be as dear to King Charles lll as it was to his late mother, he will nonetheless recall many happy summers spent here with his family when he was growing up. Visiting the Queen at Balmoral was a tradition that continued right up until the monarch’s death, with many of her grandchildren spending time with her up in the Highlands, and thus holds a special place in the hearts of the entire royal family.
Although you might expect the interior to be decked out in all the mod cons, Balmoral is pretty frugal, as far as castles go, and is rumoured to be more than a little draughty in the winter months. This rare glimpse inside the late Queen’s library reveals an old-fashioned electric convection heater for those chilly evenings in watching her favourite television programme, often reported to be the British sitcom, The Kumars at No.42.
While most of the castle has been out of bounds to the general public, particularly during the late summer, when the late Queen and her family were traditionally in residence, things should change under the new monarch. King Charles has expressed his desire to transform the castle into a memorial to Queen Elizabeth ll, allowing more visits, even when he is at home, says The Telegraph, and holding permanent exhibitions dedicated to his mother’s 70-year reign.
Unlike his mother, It is widely reported that King Charles lll does not plan to make Balmoral his principal residence in Scotland. The sovereign already has a much-loved home a few miles away on the Balmoral estate at Birkhall, which he inherited from the Queen Mother following her death in 2002. He and Camilla, the Queen Consort, spent their honeymoon there in 2005 and it's also where he recovered from coronavirus in 2020.
The King has loved Birkhall since his trips here as a child. It was a refuge for him during his unhappy years at the notoriously strict boarding school Gordonstoun and continued to be a sanctuary throughout his many years as heir to the throne. He usually visits the property every year, spending January here following Christmas at Sandringham with the rest of the family.
Windsor Castle was thought to be the Queen's favourite official home. The 1,000-room castle, which is located in Windsor Great Park, just west of London, dates from the 11th century and sprawls over 484,000 square feet.
The late Queen's official country residence, Windsor was essentially her place to unwind. She spent most of her private weekends at the castle, the Easter holidays, as well as spells in June for Royal Ascot and the Order of the Garter service (pictured). She also spent most of 2020 and 2021 at the castle, isolating due to the coronavirus pandemic before making it her permanent residence in 2022.
The fairytale castle is famed for its magnificent state apartments, considered by many experts to represent some of the finest examples of Georgian style. The gilded rooms are decorated with priceless antiques and paintings by Rubens and Holbein.
Other highlights include King George Vl Memorial Chapel, which sits within the medieval St George's Chapel and Hall (pictured), and was the location for the committal service and private burial of the late Queen, who was laid to rest alongside her late husband, the Duke of Edinburgh, her parents King George Vl and Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, and her sister Princess Margaret.
The late Queen was distraught when a fire broke out in 1992, destroying 115 rooms and nine staterooms and causing about £70 million ($84m) worth of damage in today's money say reports. It took 250 firefighters 15 hours to tackle the devastating blaze. The Duke of Edinburgh had a key role in the renovation project, which was largely funded by entrance fees to the castle and to Buckingham Palace.
In more recent years, one of the biggest occasions marked at Windsor Castle was the wedding of Meghan Markle and Prince Harry on 19 May 2018. Watched by the world, the couple exchanged vows in front of 600 guests at St George’s Chapel in the grounds of Windsor Castle.
Of course Meghan and Harry aren't the only royals to have tied the knot in Windsor. On 17 July 2020, Princess Beatrice and Edoardo Mozzi were married in a small private ceremony at the Royal Chapel of All Saints at the Royal Lodge in Windsor. Just three miles from Windsor Castle, the Royal Lodge has been the official residence of the Duke of York since 2004, following the Queen Mother's passing two years earlier.
The Grade II-listed house is where Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie spent much of their childhoods. A wooden swing engraved with Eugenie's name still sits in the garden to this day. The lodge is where Prince Andrew, Sarah Ferguson, Princess Eugenie and her husband, Jack Brooksbank, isolated together in the initial coronavirus lockdown.
Reports say the new King will divide his time between several properties: spending three days a week at Clarence House, two weekdays at Windsor Castle, although he has spent little time there so far, and the weekend at Sandringham House in Norfolk. As well as being the place where both his parents and his beloved grandmother are laid to rest, Windsor is also home to the Prince of Wales and his family, who currently reside at Adelaide Cottage nearby.
Adelaide Cottage was built back in 1831 for King William IV's wife, Queen Adelaide. A short walk from the castle, the house was renovated in 2015 so didn't require any major works. "They were adamant they didn't want anything too showy or anything that needed renovating or extra security so as not to be a burden on the taxpayer", a source told The Sun . It was also made clear that the family would have no live-in staff.
The Prince and Princess of Wales relocated to Windsor in time for the start of the new school term in September 2022, just days before the sad death of the Queen. The couple, who moved in order to be closer to the fragile Queen and to give their children a more normal childhood in the countryside, enrolled all three at the Lambrook School, just a short drive from Adelaide Cottage. While there has been talk about the family moving into the main castle at some point, reports say they are not considering any further upheaval for the moment to give their children time to settle into their new lives in the country.
Another property on the Windsor estate is Fort Belvedere, located seven miles from Windsor Castle. Built between 1750 and 1755 for Prince William Augustus, it was home to Edward Vlll and Wallis Simpson from 1929 and is where the King signed his abdication notice in 1936. Fort Belvedere then stood empty until 1955, when the Queen's cousin, Gerald Lascelles moved in. It was mooted as a possible home for the Prince and Princess of Wales when they were considering their move to Windsor, though of course they eventually settled on Adelaide Cottage.
Known as the Queen's 'forgotten castle' because she has never lived in the home, the Grade II-listed country house is situated close to the homes of other notable British royals, including the Earl and Countess of Wessex's estate and Frogmore Cottage. Here we see famed jazz trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie pictured playing the piano at Fort Belvedere on 6 June 1963.
Windsor is a special place for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex too. As well as getting married in St George’s Chapel, the couple hosted their evening reception at nearby Frogmore House, where these engagement photos were also taken. Following their marriage, the couple moved into another royal residence, Frogmore Cottage, in 2019.
However, when the Duke and Duchess of Sussex withdrew from royal duties in March 2020, they left Windsor behind for warmer climes. While they still return to Frogmore Cottage on occasion, their primary residence is now a beautiful mansion in California, where they are raising their two children, Lilibet and Archie. During a recent interview with Good Morning America to promote his memoir, Prince Harry announced it was unlikely that the family would ever return to live in the UK.
Their home these days is a stone’s throw from the ocean in the relaxed neighbourhood of Montecito in Santa Barbara, where neighbours include Ellen DeGeneres and good friend Oprah. The couple purchased their multimillion-dollar estate in June 2020 for £11.9 million ($14.7m). Public documents reveal that the couple secured a £7.8 million ($9.5m) mortgage for the private home.
Meghan gave us a peek inside her grand home office around her 40th birthday, as she launched a special initiative with Archewell. The Duchess sat at a rustic wooden desk on one of two cream dining chairs, a Hermes blanket draped over the other, in front of a traditional stone fireplace.
Another of these is the heart of the Cotswolds. In 1976, the Queen purchased Gatcombe Park estate from the former Home Secretary Lord Butler of Saffron Walden for her daughter, Princess Anne, and her first husband, Captain Phillips. In 2013, Princess Anne and her current husband Timothy Laurence were joined by her daughter Zara and her husband Mike Tindell on the Gloucestershire estate.
Surrounded by 700 acres of land, the estate also plays host to a handful of equestrian events including the annual Festival of British Eventing, which was held in August 2022 after a two-year absence due to covid restrictions. Zara Tindall is a regular competitor at the event and accomplished equestrian, winning a team Silver medal at the London 2012 Olympics.
The busiest of the working royals, her mother, Princess Anne stays in the main Grade II-listed manor house on the estate. The Princess is shown here in her living room which boasts a cosy floral sofa and armchair, wooden furniture and plenty of family photos.
Gatcombe Park is also run as a working farm with livestock including cattle and breeding horses. Known for favouring a country lifestyle, Princess Anne also has a London residence in St James's Palace that she stays in when conducting official business.
Just 11 miles south of Windsor, Bagshot Park has been a royal residence for around 200 years and is more recently the home of Prince Edward and his wife, Sophie Wessex, since their wedding in 1999. Nestled in 51 acres of land, the Grade II-listed main house, which is located in Surrey, is beautifully landscaped with pristine gardens, trees and winding paths for the family to enjoy.
Prior to the couple's wedding, the impressive manor underwent extensive renovations under the watchful eye of Prince Edward, costing more than an estimated £2 million ($2.4m), which was part-funded by the Crown Estate and partly by Prince Edward himself. The home, which originally comprised a number of lodges designed for King Charles l, has been leased to Prince Edward and Sophie Wessex for 150 years at a cost of £5 million ($6m). Today the royal couple live at the estate with their two children, Lady Louise Windsor and James, Viscount Severn.
As a private house, the public rarely gets a glimpse inside the home. But this rare sneak peek of the Wessexes at home shows the lavishly decorated billiard room, which features 241 wooden panels that were individually carved by Ram Singh, students of the Mayo School, and carpenters in Amritsar in India, after being commissioned by the Duke and Duchess of Connaught to showcase Indian design.
Holyroodhouse dates way back to 1128 when it was founded as a monastery. It was converted into a palace by King James IV of Scotland in the early 16th century and further additions were made by his successor, King James V of Scotland, as well as later kings and queens.
The late Queen was usually resident at the palace in early summer for Holyrood Week, which celebrates Scottish culture, history and excellence, and the new King is expected to do likewise. In fact King Charles lll and his wife Queen Consort Camilla carried out their first joint engagement following the period of mourning for the Queen, hosting a reception at the palace in October 2022.
The Great Gallery displays an extensive array of portraits of Scottish monarchs, both mythical and real. Moreover, the palace is said to be haunted, namely by the ghost of 'Bald Agnes', a woman who was executed for witchcraft in the 16th century. Rumour has it that she's been spotted walking through the staterooms on more than one occasion.
For most of their marriage, the King and Queen Consort have split their time between Clarence House and Highgrove House in Gloucestershire. While the house now technically belongs to his son, the Prince of Wales, who inherited it on his father's accession, the King and Queen Consort would be expected to continue to use it as a family home should they desire. Purchased in 1980, King Charles moved in with Princess Diana after they were married in 1981 and Princes Harry and William spent many of their formative years there.
King Charles remodelled the Georgian house, which is managed and owned by The Duchy of Cornwall, in 1987, engaging Robert Kime, who did the interiors at Clarence House. When the Prince of Wales first arrived at Highgrove House, the garden was sparse apart from an old cedar tree. Over a period of 38 years, Prince Charles has transformed the 15-acre grounds into a tranquil oasis, complete with an organic farm and renewable energy systems.
Llwynywermod is King Charles' 192-acre Welsh estate on the edge of the breathtaking Brecon Beacon mountains in Carmarthenshire. Though he was titled Prince of Wales in 1958, the new monarch acquired the property relatively recently, with the Duchy of Cornwall purchasing the house and grounds in 2006 for £1.3 million ($1.5m). It is now the property of Prince William as the current heir to the throne.
Previously a model farm, it was renovated using locally sourced materials and traditional Welsh craftsmanship. The land surrounding the charming house features a courtyard with a fountain and two small wildflower meadows, including one with an apple orchard. The then-Prince Charles is pictured inside the property here, along with the First Minister of Wales, Mark Drakeford, in 2019.
Like Balmoral, Sandringham House in Norfolk is privately owned by the royal family. The late Queen would traditionally spend Christmas at Sandringham, staying through February 6, the date of her late father King George VI’s death and her ascension to the throne. It is from here that she has recorded many of her famous annual messages to the nation. It has now passed to King Charles lll.
Described as 'the most comfortable house in England', Sandringham featured the latest domestic technology following its rebuild in 1870 including gas lighting, flushing toilets and working showers. King Charles hosted his first Christmas there in 2022 following the death of his mother. It was the first time the royal family had gathered there since 2019 due to the pandemic.
As well as the main house, the spacious estate includes several well-appointed houses. The Georgian Anmer Hall, for instance, is the country home of the Prince and Princess of Wales, after it was gifted to them by the Queen following their wedding in April 2011.
Hillsborough was built in the late 18th century by Wills Hill, 1st Marquess of Downshire, and was remodelled in the 19th and early 20th centuries. More stately home than castle, the two-storey Georgian mansion is set in 100 acres of rolling grounds.
Once dubbed the 'royal commune' since it houses several members of the royal family, Kensington Palace has been a royal residence since the 17th century. Today, the iconic palace is home to the apartments and offices of various members of the royal family, and historic areas of the estate are usually open for the general public to visit.
It remains the official London residence of the Prince and Princess of Wales and their three children, Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis, despite their move to Windsor in 2022. The family's long-time home 1A, a 20-room apartment, was a wedding gift from the late Queen and before they moved in, they undertook a £4.5 million ($5.3m) refurbishment. The apartment was formerly home to Princess Margaret, the Queen’s sister.
Set in around 60 acres of manicured grounds, the palace boasts some of the most well-kept gardens in London. One of the most popular spots is the Sunken Garden, which is where Prince Harry and Meghan Markle posed for their official engagement photos. It dates back to 1908 and features an ornamental pond, fountains and terraced flowerbeds. Certainly fit for a royal affair!
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