Royal residences: what number of, how huge and who lives the place? | Monarchy

Alengthy with the crown, Charles III has inherited an unrivalled assortment of houses so as to add to a number of he amassed as heir-in-waiting. The king and the queen consort now have greater than a dozen residences to select from, boasting a complete of a minimum of 2,000 rooms. The price of the workers required to maintain these properties obtainable year-round for sometimes transient visits – and exactly who pays for them – is unclear. Right here we record the primary properties utilized by the king and shut relations.

Buckingham Palace

Location: central London
Possession: king, in proper of the crown
Dimension: 775 rooms, together with 52 bedrooms and 78 loos
Use: official headquarters of the monarch
Open to the general public? Sure, public rooms open in summer season, £30; restricted excursions on different days, £90.

Reputed to be disliked by lots of the royal household, Buckingham Palace nonetheless stays central to the British monarchy. With its huge array of rooms and acres of gardens, the palace is the official headquarters of the king, though it has not but been introduced whether or not it is going to additionally develop into his primary London residence, because it was for Queen Elizabeth II. The price of its repairs has been a perennial sore. In 2017, it was agreed that motion was wanted to repair the leaking roof and crumbling masonry, with the then prime minister, Theresa Might, growing the government-funded sovereign grant to cowl £369m of refurbishment prices over 10 years.

St James’s Palace

Location: central London
Possession: king, in proper of the crown
Dimension: state rooms round a sequence of courtyards and a Tudor gatehouse
Use: an administrative centre for the sovereign and the royal courtroom; homes flats utilized by Princess Anne and Princess Alexandra, the late queen’s cousin.
Open to the general public? No

Near Buckingham Palace is the sprawling advanced of St James’s Palace, the place the royal courtroom is formally based mostly. Charles lived in a wing of the palace along with his sons William and Harry after his separation from Diana, however moved to the extra personal Clarence Home after the queen mom died. St James’s continues to be the positioning for main royal ceremonial occasions. Charles was declared king within the Proclamation Gallery, and royal christenings happen in its Chapel Royal.

Clarence Home

Location: central London
Possession: king, in proper of the crown
Dimension: 5 bedrooms, a morning room, drawing room and backyard room
Use: London residence of the king and queen consort
Open to the general public? At present closed

Clarence Home’s first occupant was its patron William, Duke of Clarence (later King William IV). Different residents have included Princess Elizabeth, who lived within the property earlier than her accession in 1952, and her mom, Queen Elizabeth, who lived there till her demise in 2002. Extra lately it has been the London house of Charles and Camilla.

Windsor Fort

Location: Berkshire, England
Possession: king, in proper of the crown
Dimension: Greater than 1,000 rooms in 2,000 hectares of parkland
Use: the monarch’s weekend residence
Open to the general public? Sure, public areas, £28

With greater than 1,000 rooms, that is the most important occupied fort on the planet. It was Queen Elizabeth II’s most well-liked house close to London. A number of royal weddings and funerals have been held within the fort’s chapel. In 1992, a hearth destroyed massive elements of the constructing. A row ensued over who ought to pay for the repairs, with many arguing that the queen ought to fund them from her personal wealth. In the long run, the £37m restoration was paid for from present grants and from cash raised by opening Buckingham Palace to paying guests for the primary time.

Adelaide Cottage

Location: Windsor Dwelling Park, Berkshire
Possession: crown property, given over to the king
Dimension: reportedly 4 bedrooms
Use: official residence of William and Catherine, Prince and Princess of Wales
Open to the general public? No

William and Catherine moved in with their household in 2022 as paying tenants. Their youngsters go to a non-public faculty close by. Described as modest and quaint, the Grade II-listed cottage was constructed within the 18th century utilizing supplies recycled from the Royal Lodge and a former royal yacht. Queen Victoria is alleged to have taken breakfast and tea there often. Its possession is convoluted: initially a part of the crown property, it was given over to Windsor Fort for using the sovereign in perpetuity.

Royal Lodge

Location: Windsor Nice Park, Berkshire
Possession: crown property, with a 75-year lease purchased by Prince Andrew in 2003
Dimension: reportedly 30 rooms in 40 hectares
Use: Andrew and his ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson
Open to the general public? No

Since he was faraway from royal duties in 2019 over sexual abuse claims, Prince Andrew, 63, is alleged to have been spending his days rattling round his 30-room mansion the place he has lived since 2003. His former spouse, Sarah Ferguson, reportedly lives in a separate wing. It has been reported that Charles desires to chop the monetary assist Andrew will get from his household, which may depart him struggling to afford the lodge’s operating prices. The king has supplied his youthful brother the smaller Frogmore Cottage, based on studies.

Frogmore Cottage

Location: Windsor Dwelling Park, Berkshire
Possession: crown property, given over to the king
Dimension: reportedly 4 bedrooms and 4 loos
Use: Harry and Meghan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, till 2020; at present empty
Open to the general public? No

The Grade II-listed home was made obtainable to Harry and Meghan by the late queen shortly earlier than the start of their first baby, Archie. Earlier than then it had housed property staff.Its possession is – like that of Adelaide Cottage – troublesome to untangle: initially owned by the crown property, a change within the nineteenth century means it may be utilized in perpetuity by the sovereign. Harry and Meghan renovated it utilizing £2.4m from the taxpayer-funded sovereign grant. This work reportedly created a four-bedroom, four-bathroom house with orangeries, a nursery and a yoga studio. Meghan and Harry remained paying tenants after they moved to California. They repaid the £2.4m in 2020 in lieu of additional hire.

Kensington Palace

Location: central London
Possession: king, in proper of the crown
Dimension: huge palace divided into a number of flats, plus cottages in grounds
Use: London residence of William and Catherine, and different royals
Open to the general public? Sure, £25.40

As soon as often called “the aunt heap” on account of the variety of ageing minor royals residing there, Kensington Palace as we speak is the London residence of the Prince and Princess of Wales, the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester, the Duke and Duchess of Kent, and Prince and Princess Michael of Kent. The elegant three-storey, redbrick mansion, largely designed by the architect Christopher Wren, was the favoured residence of earlier monarchs, who entertained lavishly in its grand state rooms and galleries.

Highgrove Home

Location: Gloucestershire
Possession: Duchy of Cornwall
Dimension: 9 bedrooms with a 140-hectare farm property
Use: Charles and Camilla use it as their nation house
Open to the general public? Sure, Highgrove gardens, £30

The Duchy of Cornwall purchased Highgrove Home as a rustic house for Charles in 1980. It was just some miles from Camilla’s household house on the time and it price £865,000. The king renovated it and created formal and kitchen gardens. He has additionally put in photo voltaic panels and a reed-bed sewage filtering system. It’s at present valued by an estates professional at about £15m. The king initially lived within the property without spending a dime; as of late he pays £659,285 in annual hire for the home and different properties utilized by his workers. On Charles’s accession to the throne, Prince William inherited the Duchy of Cornwall and so turned his father’s Highgrove landlord.

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Sandringham property

Location: Norfolk
Possession: privately owned by the king
Dimension: greater than 8,000 hectares and 300 commercially rented properties
Use: members of the royal household for Christmas holidays and personal breaks
Open to the general public? Sure, in the course of the summer season, £23

A big home and bigger property that features farms and greater than 300 homes throughout 13 villages which are rented out by the king. As an entire it’s estimated to be value between £250m and £390m. The property contains Anmer Corridor, a 10-bedroom manor given to William and Catherine by the late queen.

Balmoral Fort and property

Location: Aberdeenshire
Possession: privately owned by the king by means of a belief
Dimension: the fort has 167 rooms; the property is 22,000 hectares
Use: the monarch’s summer season base
Open to the general public? Sure, public areas, £17.74

Conservatively value £78m, Balmoral is the quintessential Highland property, the place the royal household indulge their love of deer stalking, grouse taking pictures and salmon fishing. The late queen, who died there final September, is alleged to have regarded Balmoral as her favorite place.

The property contains the king’s private retreat at Birkhall, a rustic home courting to 1715 and enlarged by the queen mom within the Sixties; and Craigowan Lodge, a seven-bedroom home. There are one other 81 cottages and lodges on the property, largely for workers.

Fort of Mey

Location: Caithness
Possession: Prince’s Basis charitable belief
Dimension: tower home in 12 hectares of parkland
Use: Charles and Camilla as a vacation house
Open to the general public? Sure, £14.50

The fort was owned by the queen mom, who purchased it as a semi-derelict wreck in 1952. After an intensive reconstruction, she stayed there each August by means of to October, till her demise in 2002. In 1996 its possession handed to a charitable belief below the path of Charles. He opened up its gardens and public rooms to guests, and in 2019 he gave it to the Prince’s Basis.

Dumfries Home

Location: East Ayrshire
Possession: Prince’s Basis
Dimension: mansion in 800 hectares
Use: king, throughout visits to the world
Open to the general public? Sure, £13.50

Dumfries Home and its Chippendale furnishings was purchased for £45m by a consortium headed by Prince Charles in 2007 from the Marquis of Bute. The acquisition was funded by means of authorities, lottery and charitable funds, and a £20m mortgage from Charles’s Prince of Wales Charitable Basis. Charles hoped to repay that mortgage by constructing a mannequin village close by, a undertaking that floundered after the banking disaster in 2008. His aides then controversially raised cash from international personal donors to fund the debt.

Bagshot Park

Location: Surrey
Possession: crown property lease purchased privately
Dimension: reportedly 120 rooms inside 21 hectares
Use: Edward and Sophie, the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh
Open to public? No

The king’s youngest sibling, Edward, has lived in Bagshot Park’s Mansion Home along with his spouse since 1998. Earlier than they moved in, the dilapidated mansion was refurbished at a value of practically £3m. The Ministry of Defence, which beforehand used the constructing, paid £1.8m in the direction of the renovation, with the remainder coming from Edward. Underneath the phrases of the preliminary lease, Edward was required to pay £90,000 in annual hire. He sublet the stables to a industrial agency, which helped to cowl this price, and later reportedly purchased an extended lease.

Gatcombe Park

Location: Gloucestershire
Possession: privately owned by Princess Anne since 1976
Dimension: 18 rooms, 283-hectare property
Use: house of Anne and her second husband, Sir Timothy Laurence
Open to public? No

Princess Anne has lived on this Cotswolds nation home since 1976 when the queen purchased it for her and her then husband, Capt Mark Phillips. The property has a lake, in depth parkland, and stables. Since 2013, Anne’s daughter, Zara, has lived in a cottage on the property along with her husband, the previous rugby participant Mike Tindall, and their youngsters. Anne’s son, Peter Phillips, reportedly has a separate home on the property.

Llwynywermod

Location: Carmarthenshire
Possession: Duchy of Cornwall
Dimension: three bedrooms, in 78 hectares
Use: Welsh house for the Prince of Wales
Open to the general public? No

Purchased by the Duchy of Cornwall for £1.3m in 2007 because the Welsh house of Charles and Camilla, it’s unclear how typically they stayed there. The cottages on the property are rented out as vacation lets when the Prince of Wales is not there. Now owned by William, it’s unclear whether or not he and Charles, who continues to pay hire, will each use it.

Palace of Holyroodhouse

Location: Edinburgh
Possession: king, in proper of the crown
Dimension: 289 rooms in 6 hectares of land
Use: king’s official residence in Scotland
Open to the general public? Sure, £19.50

Holyroodhouse was as soon as house to Mary, Queen of Scots, however is now the official royal residence in Scotland. In April 2019, the queen registered the crown’s possession of the palace, its grounds and ruined abbey. For the reason that web site had been owned by successive monarchs for hundreds of years, that was a formality.

Hillsborough Fort

Location: Hillsborough, County Down
Possession: UK authorities
Dimension: Two-storey mansion set in 40 hectares
Use: residence for visiting royals and the secretary of state for Northern Eire
Open to public? Sure, £10

The British authorities purchased Hillsborough Fort, 15 miles south-west of Belfast, in 1920 and it’s the official residence of the secretary of state for Northern Eire and members of the royal household after they go to the area. An Irish “huge home” fairly than a fort correct, it was constructed by the Hill household, Anglo-Irish landowners whose fortune was first made in the course of the Tudor conquests of Eire initially of the seventeenth century. Hillsborough takes its title from the household however is seen as a politically impartial venue and has featured prominently in peace talks.