A Look Inside King Charles III’s Palaces and Which Ones He Could Turn Into ‘Public Spaces’
Upon Queen Elizabeth II’s death, her oldest son became King Charles III. The new monarch inherited the late queen’s $500 million fortune and assets which consists of her art collection, jewelry, rare stamps, and real estate holdings including Sandringham House and the Balmoral Castle.
The king has a number of residences he has already called home for several years but now there is chatter that he will make his Clarence House as well as the official residence of the reigning monarch at Buckingham Palace, into “public spaces.” Here’s a look inside those palaces and more.
Buckingham Palace is undergoing renovations
Buckingham Palace is the most famous of all the royal residences and it is massive. The famed London palace is 828,000 square feet and boasts a staggering 775 rooms. Those include 19 Staterooms, 52 royal and guest bedrooms, 188 bedrooms for staffers, 92 offices, and 78 bathrooms. Even King Charles reportedly thinks it’s just too big for a monarch to be based out of describing it as “too large, too impersonal, and too draughty.”
However, the new king has been conducting business there since he took the throne and recently said that he would move into Buckingham Palace at some point. But not everyone buys that he would make it his primary residence considering that he’s never been fond of the place he calls “the big house.”
Although an extensive renovation project at Buckingham Palace has been ongoing since 2019, a source told The Sunday Times: “[Charles] doesn’t see it as a viable future home or a house that’s fit for purpose in the modern world. He feels its upkeep, both from a cost and environmental perspective, is not sustainable.”
King Charles’ Clarence House residence could become a ‘public space’
Clarence House is another royal residence and the one Charles and Camilla, Queen Consort (Camilla Parker Bowles) have called home for two decades. It was built in 1825 and sits between St James’s Palace and Lancaster House.
Clarence House had previously been open to the public during the summer months as visitors were given a guided tour around the five rooms and adjoining spaces on the ground floor. Visitors could also view a garden, which features a formal area added by the king in 2004 in memory of his grandmother, The Queen Mother. Following the recent death of Charles’ mother Queen Elizabeth II, household operations at Clarence House seized.
Sky News previously reported that in addition to Buckingham Palace, Charles wanted Clarence House, Sandringham, and Balmoral Castle to become all go from “private spaces to public places.”
Charles’ Highgrove House now technically belongs to Prince William
Another abode that had been part of Charles’ real estate portfolio is the king’s beloved Highgrove House in Gloucestershire, England. However, Charles’ former title the Duke of Cornwall was passed to Prince William who gets the Duchy Estate which includes the Highgrove property.
The estate is comprised of 350 acres and the property’s Georgian mansion is three stories with nine bedrooms and six bathrooms. It’s also one of the royal residences that has a panic room.
Another one of King Charles’ palaces is Birkhall, which is located on the Balmoral estate in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. The 18th-century mansion is situated on 53,000 acres next to the River Muick.
