WHETHER it’s a creaky window or a loose doorknob, we all have weird and wonderful quirks in our homes.
And the same goes for the Royal Family… just on a MUCH grander scale.
Read our Meghan and Harry live blog for the latest news and gossip…
And if you thought your dark and dingy attic was a nuisance, spare a thought for The Queen and her multiple passageways running through her multiple royal residences.
Here Fabulous takes a look at the “secret” rooms and tunnels in the Royal Family’s homes – not to mention the hidden swimming pool and handy post office too.
Buckingham Palace
There are a whopping 775 rooms in Buckingham Palace – so it’s hardly surprising that Her Majesty has hidden ways of getting around quickly.
In a segment on ITV’s Good Morning Britain filmed in 2015, Kate Garraway gave viewers a tour of the grand White Drawing Room.
The presenter told the camera: “This is the White Drawing Room. Looks beautiful, doesn’t it?”
But as she stopped to admire the HUGE mirror in the middle of the room, Kate revealed that it actually hides a secret door so The Queen can make a surprise entrance.
She said: “If you pull this open you can see that actually behind this there is a secret passage leading to the Queen’s private apartments.”
Anna Reynolds, curator of the Royal Collection True, added: “This is the way to the Queen’s apartments.
“Often when the Queen is meeting guests, they’re lined up for her here in the Music Room for her to meet.
“It allows her to make an entrance without having to walk through all of the different palace rooms.”
What’s more, Buckingham Palace even boasts it’s own cinema too.
BBC journalist Emily Maitlis previously revealed that she saw the cinema being set up in the south drawing room when she visited the palace to interview Prince Andrew in November 2020..
Writing for The Times, she said: “The floor is being transformed by palace workmen. It looks for a minute as if railway tracks are going down.”
She then spoke to a staff member, who told her: “It’s for the Buckingham Palace cinema. All the people who work here come along. It’s Judy tonight if you want to stay.”
And rather than having to join the queue after work, staff can also make use of the post office on-site which is run by Royal Family.
If that wasn’t enough, the Royal Family also have access to a a full-size indoor swimming pool in Buckingham Palace too.
Prince William and Kate Middleton took Prince George for private swimming lessons at the pool, according to Hello!
Windsor Castle
On the weekends, Her Majesty likes to retire to her second – and equally majestic – home at Windsor Castle which she uses for state visits and banquets as well as private time with her family.
With over 1,000 rooms, The Queen and Prince Philip spent lockdown in Windsor – and there’s even a hidden tunnel if the Royals need to escape.
Presenter Fiona Bruce revealed the hidden passageway for the first time on camera back in 2011 – and said you can still find evidence of the castle’s “war like origins” if “you know where to look”.
She said: “This is an office just tucked away in a corner of Windsor Castle. But look under here.”
The unassuming room holds a big secret, as Fiona lifts up the carpet to reveal a wooden trapdoor.
She said: “As if by magic, just lift these and the medieval castle emerges.”
Beneath the door is a set of impressive stone steps, which haven’t changed since they were built in the 1200s.
Fiona said: “If you’re a soldier in Windsor Castle under siege you need a way to get out. And this is the secret passage.”
“It’s wide enough to accommodate a whole army of men. You can just imagine them rushing down the stairs, and it leads out onto the street.
“This is the clever bit – they’d then be able to sneak up on the enemy and attack them from behind.”
Kensington Palace
Kensington Palace is situated in the heart of London – which makes it hard for the Royals to go unnoticed.
According to former royal chef Darren McGrady, Princess Diana would regularly sneak Prince William and Prince Harry out of a Kensington Palace secret door so they could go to McDonald’s.
Appearing on the Channel 5 documentary William and Kate: Too Good to Be True?, royal expert Simon Vigar said: “Just the chance of going to the record or the burger joint on Kensington high street that was a highlight for [William and Harry].
“They just wanted to do what normal people did. They have a secret door there out of the Palace where they would just slip out unnoticed.
“They would go and play in Kensington Gardens often with other children.”
In the bombshell biography Finding Freedom, royal authors Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand claimed Harry and Meghan also made use of the secret door during the early days of heir relationship.
The authors wrote: “No front entrance for the pair. They were given directions for how to get into the building using a discreet door away from prying eyes — and familiar only to staff and delivery trucks bringing in produce and fresh fish from Billingsgate Market.
“A glamorous start, it was not.”
In more Royal Family news, Prince William and Kate Middleton were ‘besotted’ with their new puppy after beloved family dog died last year.
And Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank ‘will welcome their first child in mid-February’, a royal insider has claimed.
Plus this unseen footage shows Princess Diana in hysterics at sight of Prince Charles wearing a hard hat.
