FROM secret rooms, decadent furnishings, to their very own private cash machines – of course Great Britain’s Royal residences boast some very luxurious features.
After all the palaces need to be, quite literally, fit for a king.
However, while the posh properties have always remained very private, it’s been revealed Prince Charles hopes to open the royal palaces to the public when he is king.
Here, we take a sneak peek behind the doors of some of the UK’s most opulent royal properties that could soon be open for fans to explore…
Buckingham Palace – £2.2bn
78 bathrooms, £2m wine collection & a private cash machine
Arguably the most famous of all the palaces, Buckingham Palace has been the official London home of the royals since 1837, and the Queen even gave birth to Prince Charles and Prince Andrew there.
It boasts its own Doctors’ surgery, The Royal Mews, run by the Queen’s GP Dr Timothy Evans, predominantly offering NHS healthcare to royal household staff.
The 775-room palace also has dozens of secret rooms, and features a full-size indoor swimming pool, thought to have been used by Prince William and Kate Middleton for Prince George’s private swimming lessons.
There’s also a cinema room, and from a practical point of view, because of course no royal wants to queue, there’s also a post office and a private ATM cash machine located in the palace basement.
The property has been estimated to be worth around £2.2bn according to estate agents Foxtons, and consists of 19 State rooms, 52 royal and guest bedrooms, 188 staff bedrooms, 92 offices and a whopping 78 bathrooms.
Underneath the property lies a wine cellar, thought to be stocked with a £2m booze collection of the finest vintage bottles, including a bottle of sherry dating back to 1660.
The property also includes a very ornate gold piano, which sparked backlash one year when the Queen gave her Christmas speech in front of it.
Balmoral – £115m
52 bedroom holiday home with a veg patch and bat colony
The Scottish castle of Balmoral has been in the Royal Family since 1852 and is one of the Queen’s favourite places to holiday.
Boasting over 50,000 acres of land, a vegetable patch which late Prince Philip tended to and 52 bedrooms, the majestic property is estimated to be worth £115 million, according to Business Insider.
The property also boasts a ballroom, which reportedly inadvertently houses a colony of pipistrelle bats that nest in the rafters, and a library.
As well as the main castle, there are 150 other buildings on the estate, including Birkhall, the estate of Prince Charles.
Kensington Palace – £425m
£900 lamps, £1k kids toys and 20 room ‘apartments’
Historic parts of Kensington Palace – the London home of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and their three children – are actually already open to the public.
Kate and Will spent a reported £3m renovating their enormous family home – Apartment 1A – which is spread over four floors and boasts over 20 rooms.
This includes five reception rooms, three bedrooms, and both a day and night nursery for the children.
When the couple hosted Barack Obama and his wife Michelle, the public were delighted to be treated to a glance of the couple’s living room, which boasts two £900 designer lamps, and a £1,100 rocking horse for Prince George.
Bought by the royals for £20,000 in 1689, Forbes estimates Kensington Palace is now worth $600m (£425m).
It is also home to Princess Eugenie and her husband Jack Brooksbank and their baby August, and houses the Royal Ceremonial Dress Collection which is set to showcase Princess Diana’s iconic wedding dress.
Windsor Castle – £167m
A chapel, ornate gold furnishings, and a political chamber
Not only did Prince Harry and Meghan Markle get married within the castle’s chapel, Windsor Castle is also a place of huge sentimental value to the Queen.
The long-reigning monarch has often spent precious family time there, visiting the residence for long weekends with Prince Philip.
The Crimson Drawing Room is a favourite of The Queen’s to use for private events, which leads through to the Green Drawing Room which was restored after being damaged in a fire in 1992.
If that wasn’t enough colour-themed drawing rooms for one property, the White Drawing Room was where Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank posed for their wedding photos.
The Queen’s second home also boasts its own political chamber, the Waterloo Chamber, where members of the Royal Family give honours to the public.
It is also the largest-inhabited and longest-occupied castle in the world – with around 500 people living and working there.
Sandringham – £48.5m
600 acres of land, an opulent gold and white drawing room and Wills’ and Kate’s Amner Hall home
Grade II manor Sandringham, in Norfolk, is most famously known for being the place the Royal Family usually visit at Christmas.
The Queen stays until the anniversary of her dad King George VI’s death – on February 6, although visiting royals have to stay in the servants’ quarters.
Technically, the Sandringham Estate itself spans across a huge 13 villages in Norfolk, with 300 residential properties which are rented out, and Kate and Wills’ country home Amner Hall is also on the grounds.
The house also hosted the ‘crisis talks’ between the Queen, Prince Charles, Prince William and Prince Harry after the Duke and Duchess of Sussex announced they wanted to step back from their senior royal roles.
Clarence House – £55m
Queen Mother’s love of porcelain honoured & a striking bronze ceiling
Prince Charles and Camilla’s London residence has been Clarence House since 2003, and the property was the backdrop of Prince Louis’ christening photos in 2018.
Previously home to the Queen Mother for 50 years, the four storey property has maintained some of its more traditional features, including the Queen Mother’s personal arrangement of Royal Anchor Chelsea porcelain.
In the Morning Room, two mantle clocks date back to the 1700s, and the room boasts a table designed by Holland & Sons, complete with a gilt-bronze rim, and the ceilings are embellished with striking bronze detailing.
The historic building was built between 1825 and 1827 and it was given an interior makeover when the Prince of Wales moved in in 2003.
Charles also has homes at Highgrove, in Gloucestershire, and Birkhall, in Scotland.
Sounds great having so many properties and rooms, but imagine how long it takes the royals to spring clean, or how high their heating bills are…
