Highgrove


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Breathtakingly beautiful my favourite season of the year :previous:

I wonder how the gardens at Highgrove has managed during the long summer drought?
 
Thank eya. It’s like being invited into a storybook from ago, absolutely beautiful.
 
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Breathtakingly beautiful my favourite season of the year :previous:

I wonder how the gardens at Highgrove has managed during the long summer drought?

One thing I've read about Highgrove is that water isn't wasted. Even bathwater is recycled for watering so that must help with the drought. Charles is very much one to have Highgrove be sustainable and he's probably figured out more than most how to handle the droughts that come.
 
As many of you will have read, Charles will not be renewing the lease on Home Farm, instread concentrating his efforts on Sandringham going forward.

I wondered if any of you thought that he may consider giving up Highgrove once King? He will then have Windsor for weekends, and Sandringham and Balmoral for other breaks.

I would be surprised if William wanted to take on Highgrove, the family seem well settled at Anmer. Might that mean that the Duchy of Cornwall might actually sell Highgrove at the right time?
 
As many of you will have read, Charles will not be renewing the lease on Home Farm, instread concentrating his efforts on Sandringham going forward.

I wondered if any of you thought that he may consider giving up Highgrove once King? He will then have Windsor for weekends, and Sandringham and Balmoral for other breaks.

I would be surprised if William wanted to take on Highgrove, the family seem well settled at Anmer. Might that mean that the Duchy of Cornwall might actually sell Highgrove at the right time?
I don't expect William and Catherine to start actively using it - they'll probably let Charles use it for the time being even when he is king and William is the new Duke of Cornwall. So, I would expect it to remain in use by the Royal Family. It could become George's country home one day.
 
I don't expect William and Catherine to start actively using it - they'll probably let Charles use it for the time being even when he is king and William is the new Duke of Cornwall. So, I would expect it to remain in use by the Royal Family. It could become George's country home one day.

That is possible, though I struggle to see how C&C can effectively use Windsor, Sandrngham and Highgrove on an ongoing basis as weekend retreats.
 
That is possible, though I struggle to see how C&C can effectively use Windsor, Sandrngham and Highgrove on an ongoing basis as weekend retreats.

We'll have to see how Charles intends to use the various estates that he has access to as a king. He might not go about it the same way as his mother.

The whole idea that you would need various residences for different times of the year and are in need of weekend retreats is probably normal in the UK but still a little strange in the eyes of those who aren't used to such a lifestyle for their royal family.

So, for me, it's a bit hard to predict but I don't expect him to necessarily continue the same rhythm. So far, they seem to have managed with Camilla keeping her own house as well, so dividing their time over various locations seems to work for them.
 
As many of you will have read, Charles will not be renewing the lease on Home Farm, instread concentrating his efforts on Sandringham going forward.

I wondered if any of you thought that he may consider giving up Highgrove once King? He will then have Windsor for weekends, and Sandringham and Balmoral for other breaks.

I would be surprised if William wanted to take on Highgrove, the family seem well settled at Anmer. Might that mean that the Duchy of Cornwall might actually sell Highgrove at the right time?
I'd be surprised if the Duchy sells it because Charles has put so much of his heart and soul into those gardens. If he does give it up, I think he's more likely to agree to leasing it with covenants to protect the aspects of the gardens he wishes to preserve. I'm sure he'd love one of his sons to take it on but that looks unlikely now.

How much does he love Windsor? Is it possible he'll keep Highgrove for weekends and just use Windsor for official events?
 
I'd be surprised if the Duchy sells it because Charles has put so much of his heart and soul into those gardens. If he does give it up, I think he's more likely to agree to leasing it with covenants to protect the aspects of the gardens he wishes to preserve. I'm sure he'd love one of his sons to take it on but that looks unlikely now.

How much does he love Windsor? Is it possible he'll keep Highgrove for weekends and just use Windsor for official events?

I can see the Duke of Cornwall and Cambridge requesting that his father, the King be able to continue on living at Highgrove. Charles has put heart and soul into that property and I can see him wanting to continue to use the residence as a weekend place much like the Queen uses Windsor.

Also, I'd not be surprised if Charles was to remain at Birkhall rather than moving into Balmoral as king. Us older folks get comfortable in our own settings and its not easy for us to give them up. :D
 
I wonder if they'll open the garden full time, maybe parts of the house as well in time. It may well even be that Charles could still use it from time to time a bit like Dumfries House. I can see Camilla keeping her house just a few miles away on so will they really need both so close together when they have Windsor and Sandringham and Balmoral?
 
Prince Charles loves the Highgrove House garden so much that I presume he will keep visiting there and working on the garden. He has a lot of homes already though.
 
Charles does have a lot of places available to him and will have even more when he becomes king. I don't think he'll do much switching around unless he absolutely has to. I can see him preferring to stay at Clarence House too rather than moving into Buckingham Palace as most will expect him to do.

Queen Elizabeth's reign has been such a long one that where she prefers to be in residence at has almost become to be known as where the monarch traditionally lives.
 
Charles does have a lot of places available to him and will have even more when he becomes king. I don't think he'll do much switching around unless he absolutely has to. I can see him preferring to stay at Clarence House too rather than moving into Buckingham Palace as most will expect him to do.

Queen Elizabeth's reign has been such a long one that where she prefers to be in residence at has almost become to be known as where the monarch traditionally lives.


He wouldn't be the first king to have a place for representation (like Buckingham Palace) and have another to live in. They could even turn BP into much more of a museum than it already is. The problem surely is not to find a place to live but to get rid of all these old palaces noone really wants to live in anymore. While the people love to visit museums in palaces.


So they could even turn Windsor into more of a museum with just some rooms to make it possible to use St. George's chapel for the Garter-ceremony etc. I never realised that Charles was often in Dandringham, though. Birkhall, yes. Balmoral, too (as his mother's guest). But Sandringham? Could become another museum in reverence to HM the queen one day.
 
To be honest it seems they use Sandringham more than Balmoral IMO certainly they make more visits to Sandringham than the summer visit to Balmoral. There was talk a while back about reports Charles was going to let Balmoral open all year as a museum/attraction but I've always doubted that personally.
 
I actually can see Charles deciding to open Balmoral year round and only use it as a residence when he needs to such as when the Prime Minister (and family) make a summer visit to the monarch. Charles is a man that feels totally and completely at home in Scotland and he and Camilla use Birkhall as their "getaway" more than anywhere else.

Charles was/is passionate about what he's done with Highgrove but I don't think he's ever thought of it as his own. It was a Duchy investment that Charles worked with and did things with that were a test station for more sustainable use of land. It was more a project than a private property. Same thing with Dumfries House. Charles' aim was to work to make things better, work to preserve things and leave it for future generations.

I think he'll be the same way as a king. He may decide that making Buckingham Palace a more "work" place for the British monarchy along with having it open to the people the monarchy serves gives the air of sustainability to the monarchy of the 21st century. I don't think Charles would be the type to "demand" a home suitable for a king but rather be a king that does what a king should do in service to Crown and country. If he's happy at Birkhall, why would he want to give it up. Open Balmoral to Scotland and only use it himself when being the monarch requires it of him.

As he's totally rewritten the job description of being a Prince of Wales, I will not be surprised if in some ways, he does the same thing as king and monarch.
 
Charles does have a lot of places available to him and will have even more when he becomes king. I don't think he'll do much switching around unless he absolutely has to. I can see him preferring to stay at Clarence House too rather than moving into Buckingham Palace as most will expect him to do.

Queen Elizabeth's reign has been such a long one that where she prefers to be in residence at has almost become to be known as where the monarch traditionally lives.
Buckingham Palace is in the beginning stages of extensive renovation and currently they are working on areas far from The Queen's private apartments so as to least inconvenience her. I would assume that at the "change of reign" Charles and Camilla will stay at Clarence House so the renovations can move into the areas being avoided for the time being.
 
Buckingham Palace is in the beginning stages of extensive renovation and currently they are working on areas far from The Queen's private apartments so as to least inconvenience her. I would assume that at the "change of reign" Charles and Camilla will stay at Clarence House so the renovations can move into the areas being avoided for the time being.

Valid point. We are only about a year into a 10 year renovation programme. If Charles becomes King whils the renovation is underway, C&C will continue to use CH as their London home till the works are completed.
 
I actually can see Charles deciding to open Balmoral year round and only use it as a residence when he needs to such as when the Prime Minister (and family) make a summer visit to the monarch. Charles is a man that feels totally and completely at home in Scotland and he and Camilla use Birkhall as their "getaway" more than anywhere else.

Charles was/is passionate about what he's done with Highgrove but I don't think he's ever thought of it as his own. It was a Duchy investment that Charles worked with and did things with that were a test station for more sustainable use of land. It was more a project than a private property. Same thing with Dumfries House. Charles' aim was to work to make things better, work to preserve things and leave it for future generations.

I think he'll be the same way as a king. He may decide that making Buckingham Palace a more "work" place for the British monarchy along with having it open to the people the monarchy serves gives the air of sustainability to the monarchy of the 21st century. I don't think Charles would be the type to "demand" a home suitable for a king but rather be a king that does what a king should do in service to Crown and country. If he's happy at Birkhall, why would he want to give it up. Open Balmoral to Scotland and only use it himself when being the monarch requires it of him.

As he's totally rewritten the job description of being a Prince of Wales, I will not be surprised if in some ways, he does the same thing as king and monarch.

As King, Charles will personlly own the Balmoral estate, and will be within his rights to do quite as he pleases. The castle has been used during the long summer months to host various friends and family. These include foreign royal families, including the Norwegiens and the Greeks. If Charles wants to continue that arrangement, he may choose to use the castle quite as it currently is.

Alternatively, he could continue at Birkhall, and house his guests at various properties on the Balmoral estate. Not quite sure what he would do with the castle in that case though!
 
SInce he owns Balmoral, I cna't see why he would not use it.. Its not likely that he would rent it out as a conference centre or the like.. so he mihgt as well get teh use of it...
 
Maybe in all of this, they'll finally get rid of Sandringham and get Osborne back. ?
 
I had read somewhere that either Sandringham or Balmoral was owned by trust so maybe he'll have to keep at least on them.
 
I think we know from past actions that Charles' guiding principles in deciding what to do with all of these properties will be focused on a great concern for the employees and the environment. He'll want to maximise local benefit in terms of jobs, the local economy and also to share the properties as much as possible with the visiting public. If anything is sold or leased, I think he'll ensure that covenants protect jobs (and/or create new ones), benefit the wildlife and promote a green agenda.
 
I had read somewhere that either Sandringham or Balmoral was owned by trust so maybe he'll have to keep at least on them.

No, Highgrove is owned by the Duchy of Cornwall but Sandringham and Balmoral are the queen's personal property...
 
I've found the source that said it was held in Trust, its some random book so possibly not up to date but nothing would surprise me with the RF.

Also I'd forgotten, Charles also uses Castle of Mey for a week or so....he could end up with access (if not ownership) of 5 properties in Scotland...Holyrood, Balmoral, Birkhall, Mey and Dumfries House.
 
Why would they do that?

A joke from the conversation in the Osborne thread about people saying how lovely it is and why did they give it up. Sandringham is so ugly (and not by the beach) that the Queen was apparently at least once asked if she wouldn't like the place burned down. ?

I'm well aware that Osborne was left to the nation, I just wouldn't be terribly surprised if some future monarch says to the National Trust "give it back, we'll give you Sandringham instead". In a lighthearted spirit, I think the Crown could arrange it.

Highgrove will probably not have the inherited significance of Sandringham, but Charles is rightfully so proud of his garden.
 
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