Clarence House: Inside Charles & Camilla's London Home

Table Of Content

• King Charles set to return to public duties…
• Anne Boleyn’s Book of Hours reveals secret history…
• History
• Princess Anne visits Sri Lanka – the first…
• King and Queen’s coronation outfits get summer opening…
• Inside Clarence House, King Charles and Queen Camilla's London Home
• Queen remembers ‘beloved’ Prince Philip in her 2021…

Notably, he'd employ the firm Waller & Sons to reorient the building to the south, and have a Russian Orthodox chapel installed for his wife, Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna (the latter was dismantled following Maria's death). Then, in 1901, Queen Victoria's third son and his wife, Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn and Louise, Duchess of Connaught, moved in after ordering some redecorations of their own. This royal residence next door to St James’s Palace was designed by John Nash and built between 1825 and 1827 as the home of King William IV. Clarence House has since been home to members of the royal family including Princess Elizabeth (before she became Queen Elizabeth II) and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh and Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother. Each summer for the month of August, the house is open to visitors for tours of the ground floor, as Charles and Camilla holiday at Birkhall. The large, white stuccoed building sits halfway down the Mall and is nestled between St James’s Palace (the location of the Court of Queen Elizabeth II) and Lancaster House, built for Frederick Augustus, Duke of York.

Prince Harry's 'brief 45-minute meeting' with King Charles after racing to Clarence House - Express

Prince Harry's 'brief 45-minute meeting' with King Charles after racing to Clarence House.

Posted: Tue, 06 Feb 2024 08:00:00 GMT [source]

King Charles set to return to public duties…

The planting was laid out to by members of The Prince’s School of Traditional Arts. Clarence House, one of the last remaining aristocratic townhouses in London. Built between 1825 and 1827 to the designs of John Nash, Clarence House takes its name from its first occupant, William Henry, Duke of Clarence, later William IV. Clarence House was built for the Duke of Clarence, George III's third son.

Anne Boleyn’s Book of Hours reveals secret history…

Clarence House is, in fact, part of St James’s Palace, but as it has been used as a separate royal residence it deserves its own entry. During their lifetimes, Knights and Ladies of the Garter are entitled to display their Garter Banners in St George's Chapel, Windsor - the spiritual home of The Order. Clarence House was first built between 1825 and 1827 for The Duke of Clarence (later King William IV) and his wife Adelaide.

History

The couple moved in after their marriage in 1947, and had the building modernized with more up-to-date electrical, heat, and hot water systems. However, with some wartime rationing and restrictions still in place, the renovations were modest—as were the aesthetic updates, overseen by Philip. It was commissioned by the Duke of Clarence, who in 1830 became King William IV of the United Kingdom (reigned 1830–1837).

The Lancaster Room today is used as a sitting room for guests, waiting to be received by Prince Charles or Camilla, and features many photos of visiting Heads of State, including European Kings and Queens, as well as American Presidents. Clarence House was formerly the London home of Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother from 1953 until 2002 and was also the home of The Queen, then Princess Elizabeth, and The Duke of Edinburgh following their marriage in 1947. Today, it's the official London residence of the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall and has undergone extensive alternations throughout history, reflecting the varying tastes of its numerous occupants. To mark Prince Charles’ 70th birthday in November 2018, Clarence House used Google’s Street View feature to let the public take a virtual “guided tour” of the royal townhouse. Clarence House has seen several key events, such as the death of Princess Augusta Sophia.

During the war, it had been used by the Red Cross, and in 1945, it had few bathrooms, only skeleton central heating, limited electricity and Victorian kitchens. After the death of the Duchess of Kent, Clarence House was left vacant for five years until 1866, when Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh, Queen Victoria’s second son, moved in, and made sweeping changes. A Russian Orthodox Chapel was installed on the first floor of Clarence House for her. This was dismantled following the Duchess’s departure after her husband’s death in 1900.

Complete digital access to quality FT journalism with expert analysis from industry leaders. Clarence House is located in St James adjacent to St James’s Palace and less than a 10-minute walk from Buckingham Palace. Organic fertilisers and traditional methods are used on the garden, and the lavender, seen in the memorial garden Prince Charles had created for his grandmother, is used to make lavender oil. When a Knight or Lady of the Garter dies, their standard, which was displayed in the spiritual home of the order, St George’s Chapel, Windsor, is returned to the Monarch. However, after The Queen Mother died, Prince Charles requested the standard, to display it at Clarence House; it now hands proudly at the far end of the hall, next to the stairs – an homage to his dear grandmother.

This portrait of her, by Augustus John, still hangs above the fireplace in The Dining Room. Arthur, Duke of Connaught, the third son of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, moved into Clarence House with his wife after redecorations had been carried out in 1901. 200 staff of the Foreign Relations Department maintained contact from Clarence House with British Prisoners of War abroad and administered the Red Cross Postal Message Scheme. Currently, the house is the London residence of King Charles III and Queen Camilla. They will continue to use Clarence House as their London home until at least 2027 while renovations to Buckingham Palace continue.

A visit to Clarence House explores the five ground floor rooms, where official engagements are undertaken. Then $75 per month.Complete digital access to quality FT journalism on any device. A tour of the house also includes the formal garden area that was laid out according to the Prince of Wales’ design in 2004–2005. Lovely webpage, the house is beautiful, but all the houses and palaces and castles are beautiful. The three interlinked reception rooms are accessible from here, as is the Lancaster Room. The Horse Corridor leads off to the right, towards the Garden Room, and the stairs sit next to the Dining Room.

In his memoir Spare, Harry writes Camilla turned his bedroom into a dressing room when he moved out. "I tried not to care. But especially the first time I saw it, I cared," he wrote. Harry also writes about introducing Meghan to his father at the estate; when they drove into Clarence House, he says, "the lush gardens...made Meg gasp." Clarence House has five bedrooms, a drawing room with a central fireplace, and a morning room filled with personal photographs, artworks and antiques.

In May, The Sunday Times reported that Charles is planning to open up the royal palaces to the public for longer periods of the year when he becomes king. Clarence House may not be among the most famous royal residences, but it is replete with history. The next residents were the widowed Queen Mother and her younger daughter, Princess Margaret. The princess then moved into Kensington Palace after her marriage to Anthony Armstrong-Jones, 1st Earl of Snowdon in 1960 whilst the Queen Mother remained at Clarence House until her death in 2002.