General Discussion about Royal Residences 1: Ending Sep 2022

[auroraDaniel]

i have read in many websites and books that the royal family does own several castles, and some of the castles are not. is it true? which castle belong to the royal family and which is not? and how come some castles can be bought by people like me and you?

i do not have the pic of the castles here but i'm sure some of you do. could you guys post them here? and tell us the story behind those castles?

 

[Elspeth]

Balmoral Castle in Scotland and Sandringham House in Norfolk are personal property of the Queen, meaning that she could sell them if she wanted to. Windsor Castle, Buckingham Palace, St James's Palace, Kensington Palace, Holyrood House, Hampton Court, the Tower of London, and other royalty-associated castles and palaces are owned by the nation and aren't the personal property of the monarch. Highgrove House is owned by the Duchy of Cornwall.

This page from the official website of the British monarchy goes into more detail about the different castles and palaces.

http://www.royal.gov.uk/output/Page553.asp

 

[auroraDaniel]

well thanks elspeth . what about leeds castle in kent? i read once that the castle once was bought by an american lady. is that true?

 

[Elspeth]

Yes, apparently it was bought by an American heiress in the 1920s.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/kent/discover_kent/castles/leeds.shtml

 

[His Lordship]

Yes, and now I think Leeds in the hands of the National Trust, who are doing a great job of making sure these historical castles and homes stay standing.

 

[Melania]

Royal houses for sale?

From what I have read, both the Duke of York and the Prince Michael of Kent are both putting their homes up for sale. One of the offers the Duke of York has received was from a friend of Fergie's to turn their former home into a spa. My question is why are the royals putting up their homes for sale? Is it a seller's market? What is the deal? Are they not atticipating a future royal monarchy, or are they wanting to take the chance to modernize a bit? I wonder? What do you think and does anyone have any more information on these subjects? Thanks if you do!

 

[Queen Mary I]

I thought the Princess Michael Of Kent had to vacate Kensington Palace in some years and this will apparently put a bite in the Royal pockets. They had been paying a pittance for their grand apartments (Her Majesty's 'Grace and Favor' wedding gift) but their other home that they are selling-perhaps they need the money? Or they don't need so many rooms if their children have moved out? And if Sarah is moving out perhaps Andrew feels the need to downsize also. It is all very interesting.

 

[Iluvbertie]

Andrew inherited a home on the Windsor estate from the Queen Mum which he is refurbishing and going to make his home so he needs to sell the family home he shared with Sarah.

 

[Zonk]

Here is a weird question...I know that a lot of families have to play death duties...how is that calculated and does it start at a certain dollar amount. And LASTLY...how is it possible that the current Duke of Gloucester was able to delay paying the duties from the death of his father?

 

[Australian]

Could anybody please tell me which royal residence Queen Elizabeth I mainly resided at? Thank you Was it Hampton Court where her father mainly stayed?

 

[Elley]

silverware

Does anyone know the silver tableware (silverware) pattern used at Windsor Castle or any of the Queen's castles? Just curious.

 

[Bella]

Personal Rooms at Royal Households ~

In light of the news that HM will be celebrating Christmas at Windsor Castle rather than Sandringham, it brings a question to mind about the royals and their various households. When the RF (excluding HM and Prince Philip) visits any of the royal households for a length of time, do they have their own rooms there with their own personal effects? Do Princes Wm & Harry have their own rooms at Windsor, for example? How about Psss. Beatrice & Eugenie. And Peter and Zara? Are they able to decorate and furnish these rooms to their own liking or are they more like hotel rooms, where they are used "as is" for the duration of the stay? Also, when they stay as guests of HM at these various royal residences, are they able to say, raid the kitchen refrigerator, or must they go through protocol to get something to eat? I'm thinking this 'cuz they are all young people who I'm sure have healthy appetites and, unlike ordinary folk, probably can't just mosey down to the kitchen and make a sandwich when they want. Does anyone know the protocol for this. Also does anyone have any photos of the inside of some of these royal residences? Thank you.

 

[BeatrixFan]

Rooms in the various residences are permanent and are decorated depending on the owner. For example, at Windsor, the Queen is the boss and so she'll have the private rooms decorated as she sees fit but then the members of the RF will add their personal touches. At Windsor, almost all of the Queen's children have rooms and the same goes for Buckingham Palace. Princess Anne has rooms at St James's too and Princess Alexandra has rooms there also.

As for eating, they ring the bell, put in their order and it's sent up. Generally, they wouldn't be guests of the Queen because the rooms are considered to be theirs and they are private. They get serviced by the Household staff. As far as I know, Beatrice and Eugenie, Zara and Peter don't have rooms in any Royal Residence apart from (for B and E) Sunninghill and (for Z and P) at Gatcombe.

At private residences, the Royal Family can pretty much do as they like. For example, Highgrove belongs to Prince Charles and he can do as he wants. There's a tale of him going down to make himself a sandwich and he saw several chickens in the fridge. When he asked why there were so many, his cook said, "Well Sir, you do like your vol-au-vents". In Buckingham Palace, Charles wouldn't do that because it's very much his mother's house.

It's a very complicated subject and I'd recommend you get "At Home with the Queen" by Brian Hoey which gives a detailed account of every aspect of Royal life such as where the Royals sleep, what they eat and when etc etc.

 

[Tricota]

It's a very complicated subject and I'd recommend you get "At Home with the Queen" by Brian Hoey which gives a detailed account of every aspect of Royal life such as where the Royals sleep, what they eat and when etc etc.

That looks interesting. I think I'll try and look into that. I see that he has also done a book with the title "Life with the Queen". I dont know if this is a new book, or simply an update. Do you know anything about that?

 

[Elspeth]

Some of his books do overlap others in the information they provide; it's possible that one of them is just an update of the other - you might be able to find out by looking at the listings at Amazon.

 

[PrinceOfCanada]

Palace and Castle floorplans/insider info.

So I was wondering.. does anyone here have a floorplan of Buck House, Windsor, Balmoral, or Sandringham? I don't mean the dull (but gorgeous) State Rooms in the first two.. I mean servants' quarters, G&F apartments, etc etc.

 

[infinityland]

Royal Residences help!

Hello there! This is my first post!

Anyway! I'm looking for floor plans of a few of the royal residences, particularly Kensington Palace & Clarence house.

I've looked all over the net but the only thing I can seem to find is one of Buckingham Palace which doesn't go into much detail.

Thanks for any replies!

 

[Fie]

Euh, there's a reason why no detailed floor plans of royal residence exists or are very hard to come by: it's because of the safety measures...

All royal residences invest a lot of money into security. That can be anything from an alarm system to a huge fence around the estate. Also making sure that no floor plans from a residence are published is a security measure.

 

[infinityland]

Oh yes! I'm so stupid, I never even thought of that

Yes I suppose it would be a pretty silly thing to release detailed floor plans of their homes. Thanks anyways tho!

 

[LadyK]

There are some floorplans for royal residences, depending on which ones you need. A great place to look (oddly enough) is that residence's website. They'll often have small plans mostly showing tours. The more famous and historical palaces and residences may have plans printed. Look through databases of architectural periodicals for those.

Fie is right- you will never find exact current floor plans because they are classified information. Any detailed plans you can find will be old plans that are probably not to scale.

 

[Stefan]

Hello there! This is my first post!

Anyway! I'm looking for floor plans of a few of the royal residences, particularly Kensington Palace & Clarence house.

I've looked all over the net but the only thing I can seem to find is one of Buckingham Palace which doesn't go into much detail.

Thanks for any replies!

There is a floor Plan of Clarence House in the Guide of it. But it contains only the rooms on the Ground florr which can be visited in Summer every Year.

 

[Marengo]

General Discussion about British Royal Residences

I was wondering if anybody knows on which estates several children of Queen Victoria lived. The Duke of Connaught had Bagshot Park but what about the Dukes of Edinburgh and Albany? I suppose they both had a house on the country side too.

 

[Warren]

The Duke and Duchess of Albany, and later the widowed Duchess, lived at Claremont House. See this Wiki article.
The Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh (Alfred and Marie of Russia) lived at Clarence House.

 

[Stefan]

And Clarence House became the London residence of the Duke and Duchess of Connaught after the Duke mof Edinburgh and Saxe-Coburg had passed away.

 

[sirhon11234]

General Royal Residence Topics

Huge overspends revealed in renovating royal buildings

Huge overspends revealed in renovating royal buildings | UK news | guardian.co.uk

 

[Emeralds and Opals]

Re: Castle of Mey-Scotland.

Former home of Queen Mother in homosexual weddings row - Telegraph

 

[Skydragon]

There are very many venues in Scotland, IMO, that ONLY offer a christian ceremony. The article is wrong when it states that Charles would not have been able to marry there, why not? Scotland allows divorced couples to marry in church, so why would this be any different!

 

[scooter]

It does seem a contradiction that QEQM surrounded herself with gay attendants and yet they cant marry there.

 

[Skydragon]

Under Scottish law, a marriage can take place at the castle if performed by a religious figure who already holds a licence.

However, if a couple wished to have a civil marriage at the castle, the trustees would have to apply for a licence from their local council. The trustees have decided not to do so, initially.

"They did not want civil ceremonies here and therefore there was no need to apply for a civil licence. That was as far as the discussion went. They did not get into the discussion of gay partnerships

Gay wedding row at Queen Mother's castle - The Scotsman

As Aleksandr the Meerkat says, simples!

 

[Mermaid1962]

I don't see a contradiction. Having servants who are homosexual is one thing; having gays or lesbians marry each other in one's home is quite another.

It does seem a contradiction that QEQM surrounded herself with gay attendants and yet they cant marry there.