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The aimsof The Royal Collection Trust are the care and conservation of the Royal Collection, and the promotion ofaccess and enjoyment through exhibitions, publications, loans and educational activities. For nearly two centuries, Clarence House has been home to senior members of the British royal family. Nowadays, the house is known as one of the London homes of King Charles and Camilla, Queen Consort, but the residence has a fascinating history of its own, and has undergone many a reinvention over the years. Visitors can take a tour that shows you five rooms inside the house that are set up as they would have appeared when the Queen Mother lived here.
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The Prince of Wales had employed the antique dealer and decorator, Robert Kime, at his country estate at Highgrove in Gloucestershire and to decorate previous apartments at St James’s, and he was commissioned to prepare Clarence House once the builders had finished. His brief was to use the Queen Mother’s furniture and paintings, mixing them with objects from store at Windsor Castle and some of the Prince’s own possessions. Work was completed and the Prince had moved in by August 2003, at the same time as it was announced that the house would be open to visitors each summer. The house's next royal resident would be Queen Elizabeth herself, then still a Princess, and her husband Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.
Look inside Clarence House – the home of Prince Charles & Camilla
The house was commissioned by Prince William Henry, Duke of Clarence, later King William IV and built between 1825 and 1827. The third son of King George III had architect John Nash design the building as he was famed for his previous work such as Buckingham Palace and Marble Arch. It is widely thought that the prince had Clarence House built because he found the neighbouring St James’s Palace too cramped.
The residence can be visited by the public—both in-person and virtually.
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Over the past two centuries, it has reflected the changes in its occupancy as the interior has been updated to meet the tastes of its residents. Following William IV’s death in 1837, his sister, Princess Augusta Sophia lived at Clarence House until her death in 1840. The house was then occupied by Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg- Saalfeld, the mother of Queen Victoria, before becoming the home of the Queen’s second son, Prince Alfred, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, also known as the Duke of Edinburgh. Charles and Camilla have been residents of Clarence House for almost 20 years, having lived there since 2003. While it is yet to be officially confirmed whether the King and Queen Consort will live at Buckingham Palace, reports from The Independent suggest that the couple will remain at Clarence House until the major refurbishment works at Buckingham Palace have been completed. There is currently a 10-year renovation project in the works to keep the building fit for the future.
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Both the Ministry and the Royal Household had a close eye on the budget, with all works being categorised as either war damage, backlog maintenance or improvement. The Prince and Princess paid for the latter category themselves, partly funded by money given as wedding presents. Work complete, they took up residence in June 1949 – the final bill was £78,616. The Garden Room was created by Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother from two rooms, which formed part of the 1870s extension.
A photo of Prince Charles meeting Barack Obama at the White House in 2011 takes pride of place on a side table, next to a second framed portrait of Queen Elizabeth II, taken by Annie Leibovitz as part of a 2016 Vanity Fair photo shoot. It is the home to Charles and Camilla and also provides office accommodation for the Prince of Wales's household, who support their Royal Highnesses in their official engagements. Artistic highlights include a Chippendale armchair, 18th-century Chinese porcelain and artwork by British painters including Graham Sutherland, W.S. Sickert and Augustus John. It is currently home to the Prince of Wales and his wife Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall.
Post-war restrictions on building and materials meant that there was still an overall simplicity to the furnishings. In the Dining Room, for instance, the Georgian dining table and 20 ladder-back chairs were the gift of the Royal Warrant Holders Association, while the mahogany sideboard and four side tables were a present from Queen Mary. Over the years, they added their own touches to the building, some with the help of interior designer Robert Kime.
Having housed a number of members of the Royal Family across the centuries, Clarence House has an interesting history. The Duke of Clarence (future William IV), along with a number of his siblings, resided at St James’s Palace, the redbrick Henrician creation on the Mall. Following the deaths of Princess Charlotte and her son in 1817, and then George III and The Duke of Kent in 1820, William, Duke of Clarence, became heir. If you've ever wondered what it really looks like inside, we've gathered a selection of pictures to give you a peek. From the opulent Morning Room, where the royal couple often host dignitaries, to the Garden room, filled with ornate paintings, take a look inside the much-loved family house.
After the Queen's accession in 1952, she and her family moved into Buckingham Palace; in turn, the Queen Mother and Princess Margaret took over Clarence House. The Queen Mother oversaw renovations and redecorations of her own, many of which have remained. The residence was designed by John Nash next to St. James's Palace as a home for King George III's son—then Prince William Henry, Duke of Clarence, soon to be King William IV—in the 19th century. The three-story stuccoed mansion was luxurious, to be sure, but far less resplendent than Nash's work on Buckingham Palace.
The arrangement of the rooms and their art and antique collections have mostly remained as they were in Queen Elizabeth's time, with much of Her Majesty's collection of works of art and furniture in their former positions. “In the Duke of Clarence's time the Lancaster Room, the first room off the Hall, was the Equerry's Room and has served as a waiting room for visitors ever since. The Morning Room was originally designed as the breakfast room,” says the Royal Collection. The royal residence was built between 1825 and 1827, to the designs of John Nash for Prince William Henry, Duke of Clarence.
Prince Charles first lived at Clarence House between the ages of one and three and later moved back in a year after the death of his grandmother, The Queen Mother, in 2002. During World War II, the house was damaged during The Blitz and after the death of the Duke of Connaught in 1942, it was used by the Red Cross and the St John’s Ambulance Brigade for the remainder of the war. Before Charles and Camilla's residency, Clarence House was the home of Queen Elizabeth II (then Princess Elizabeth) and Prince Philip, The Duke of Edinburgh following their marriage in 1947 until her accession as Queen in 1952.
You'll find homeware, china, clothing and jewellery, children’s toys, books and postcards. The income from every purchase you make contributes directly to the care of the Royal Collection. Royal watchers worldwide can also tour the residence digitally, thanks to a virtual tour hosted by Google Arts and Culture. King William IV would continue living in Clarence House even after ascending the throne. After his death in 1837, his sister Princess Augusta moved in, until her death just three years later.
Despite her early dislike of the house, it became the Queen Mother’s much-loved home, furnished with a growing collection of works of art, many of which were bought in the country house sales of the 1950s and 1960s. In 1830 when the Duke came to the throne as King William IV his brother George IV’s rebuilding of Buckingham Palace was still incomplete and so he continued to live at Clarence House when in London. In order to improve internal circulation a modest first-floor link was built in 1830 between Clarence House and the state apartments. Many of the items in the house reflect the style and interests of Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, who lived in Clarence House for five decades, from 1953 until her death in 2002. "Their Royal Highnesses love Clarence House and although they have made it their home with their own personal touches, The Queen Mother's legacy lives on and is evident throughout the house," says a Clarence House spokesperson.
The red wallpapered Horse Corridor, so-called because the walls are adorned with images of horses and the sides with ornaments, leads through to the Garden Room, sometimes called the Cornwall Room. Another portrait sits over the fireplace; it is supposed to be The Duchess of York in 1940, though looks nothing like her. The artist, Augustus John, became terribly nervous when he came to paint Elizabeth at the Palace, and so could not look her in the eye, leading to a poor portrait. The Christmas Tree sits in the middle window, where the front door used to stand, left of the photo below.
From 1949 to 1952 it was the home of Her Majesty The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh, and later The Queen Mother, who lived at Clarence House for 50 years. Clarence House became the London home of Princess Elizabeth and The Duke of Edinburgh, following their marriage in 1947, until her accession as Queen in 1952. The Victorian interiors were given a fresh new appearance, under The Duke of Edinburgh's guidance. The electric wiring, heating and hot water systems were modified versions of what had been laid on in 1874.
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