Sandringham House

[GuidoG]

Thank you so much lumutqueen & Ella Kay!!

I've found this in Royal Insight from October 2008:

Q: Jennifer - Kent
Where does The Queen spend Christmas?
The Queen and her family have spent Christmas at Sandringham in recent times.
There was a period of 24 years when The Royal Family spent Christmas at Windsor, while in Christmas 1953, The Queen was in New Zealand.
The Queen and members of the Royal Family were at Sandringham most recently for Christmas 2007 and the New Year period.

Maybe I was confused with that, they used to spend Christmas at Windsor, I must have read that somewhere.

That's correct, lumutqueen, she does spend the day of King George VI death and her ascension at Sandringham.

There are seven days, this year from the 25th July to 1st August, that the House remains closed to the public. Do you know why? Something to do with the Royals in house during those days?

 

[Vasillisos Markos]

And don't forget that Queen Mary was reportedly upset because of York Cottage's proximity to the main house, where her mother-in-law lived, and thus Alexandra and her daughters would visit more often than Mary liked.

 

[muriel]

It is true that in recent years that HM and the family spend XMas at Sandringham. It has been reported inthe press in recent years that Charles is keen for the family to spend Christmas at Windsor instead, as Camilla and William like to slip out and share some of the time with Camilla's family and Kate respectively.

 

[1043590]

Here are some photos of Sandringham House.

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a214/Richard1961/Sandringham%20House/Sandringhamfronispiece_edited.jpg
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a214/Richard1961/Sandringham House/Sandringhamintro_edited.jpg.jpg

 

[Vasillisos Markos]

Beautiful photos and sketches of the property. How many times a year does the Royal Family go to Sandringham? From the comments above, I gather they go at Christmas but maybe more often?

 

[MAfan]

As far as I know, the Queen uses to live in Sandringham from Christmas to February.

 

[Iluvbertie]

Charles does spend some time there at a time other than Christmas because there are always photos of him there.

 

[MAfan]

Yes, all the Royal Family, or at least the Queen, the Duke of Edinburgh and their children and grandchildren and families, use to spend Christmas there.

 

[Iluvbertie]

Yes, all the Royal Family, or at least the Queen, the Duke of Edinburgh and their children and grandchildren and families, use to spend Christmas there.

The Queen, DoE, their children and available grandchildren, along with Princess Margaret's children and grandchildren spend Christmas at Sandringham now.

They used to have all the extended family at Windsor but moved it to Sandringham where it is held now.

Harry has missed one or two Christmases due to being on duty but otherwise all the children and grandchildren have been with the Queen and Duke on Christmas although these days some of them leave on Boxing Day to do their own thing, particularly the younger royals and the Duchess of Cornwall who goes to spend it with her own family rather than her husband's.

I think the younger royals would prefer Windsor due to its proximity to London and the parties etc that they could attend there while Norfolk is further away.

 

[tommy1716]

Does anyone know roughly how many bedrooms there are at Sandringham? If the entire family and staff, guests etc stay at Christmas there must be a fair few.

 

[muriel]

Does anyone know roughly how many bedrooms there are at Sandringham? If the entire family and staff, guests etc stay at Christmas there must be a fair few.

From memory, I think Sandringham has about 90 bedrooms.

 

[Lumutqueen]

Does anyone know roughly how many bedrooms there are at Sandringham? If the entire family and staff, guests etc stay at Christmas there must be a fair few.

I don't think all the royals stay at Sandringham at Christmas.

 

[jonc93]

From memory, I think Sandringham has about 90 bedrooms.

That's quite a lot! Quite more than BP which has 53. Unless your counting staff bedrooms also?

 

[Lumutqueen]

BP has a lot more rooms I think, but they aren't in use. I remember seeing the Monarchy: The Royal Family at work and when guest came to stay they had to open up one of the suites.

 

[muriel]

It should also be remembered that large parts of BP are offices and staff quarters.

That's quite a lot! Quite more than BP which has 53. Unless your counting staff bedrooms also?

That is probably right. I remember this snippet of informtion from a guided tour of Sandringham I went on a few years ago, whilst we were visiting Norfolk for a long weekend

 

[tommy1716]

90 bedrooms!! Wow thats alot, I'd like to think that including staff bedrooms lol.

 

[muriel]

90 bedrooms!! Wow thats alot, I'd like to think that including staff bedrooms lol.

It is a big building, though none of the rooms appeared very big. In fact, even the dining room was not very large, so wonder how they manage to get the whole family around the table at christmas.

 

[wbenson]

QUEEN DOG DEATH QUIZ - mirror.co.uk

The Queen has called in vets to find out why dogs have died after being walked at her Sandringham estate.

Five pets have reportedly died of a stomach illness and four were sick after visiting the Norfolk estate.

Mystery bug kills dogs on the Queen

Royal aides have called in vets to investigate, after a mystery illness claimed the lives of dogs which have been walked at Sandringham.

Queen calls in vets to investigate deadly animal virus on her Sandringham estate | Mail Online

The Queen has called in vets to investigate a mystery dog-killing disease sweeping Sandringham.

Pets have become ill after visiting woodland open to the public on her 20,000-acre Norfolk estate.

 

[Lumutqueen]

That doesn't sound very nice, there was a similar story earlier in the week.

 

[Vasillisos Markos]

OMG, I love my dog; I can imagine the heartbreak by the Queen and her subjects who lost their pets. I hope the vets get to the bottom of this. My grandfather came from England and you don't get between an Englishman (or Englishwoman) and his or her dog or horse.

 

[Lumutqueen]

Mystery bug on Queen's Sandringham estate kills 6 dogs and 31 fighting for life | Mail Online

 

[ortiz]

There are informative captions in this lovely photo/video tribute to Sandringham House

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=599Io89AFIY

 

[Vasillisos Markos]

Ortiz,

thanks again for posting these great video snapshots of royal residences. The scenery around Sandringham is simply stunning. I can see why the royal family loves to go there at Christmas. Someday I must travel there and see it for myself.

 

[Vanya Trubetskoy]

In the 1970's, the Queen on the Duke of EdinB. advice had a 90 room wing/section of the mail house demolished!
Can you imagine how big the house was before that!

 

[muriel]

Ortiz,

thanks again for posting these great video snapshots of royal residences. The scenery around Sandringham is simply stunning. I can see why the royal family loves to go there at Christmas. Someday I must travel there and see it for myself.

It is indeed a lovely property. Having visited a few years ago, I was surprised to note that the rooms in the house themselves are not very large at all - there are rather a lot of them, but they are all quite small.

 

[Vanya Trubetskoy]

The Queen's Sitting Room Sandringham House.

Photo from the 1970's.

 

[Vanya Trubetskoy]

Drawing Room Sandringham House.

This is where I believe there are many Faberge items on display!

 

[Vanya Trubetskoy]

The Salon Sandringham House.

The front door to the house is to your right behind the Black screen.
HM likes to do her jigsaw puzzles in this room!

 

[Vanya Trubetskoy]

Dining Room Sandringham House.

Dining Room.

 

[Meadow]

Thanks for that those pictures are lovely!