King Charles and Queen Camilla haven’t moved royal residences since becoming King and Queen and their current London home holds so many special memories for the monarch.
Whilst Buckingham Palace might have been the primary London residence of monarchs for generations, King Charles broke this tradition after becoming King in 2022. Although it’s been suggested that he and Queen Camilla will move into Buckingham Palace after the extensive renovations have been completed there, for the moment they still live at the same home they’ve loved for decades. Like Gatcombe Park where Princess Anne lives and the Prince and Princess of Wales’s Adelaide Cottage, Their Majesties’ London residence isn’t the only home they spend time in.
However, it is one of the most well-known and King Charles and Queen Camilla have often shared glimpses inside Clarence House. It’s also got a very sentimental history to it as it and here we reveal all the details you need to know about where King Charles and Queen Camilla live.
Where do King Charles and Queen Camilla live?
King Charles and Queen Camilla live at Clarence House in London and it’s located very conveniently for undertaking engagements and attending events when they’re in the capital. Of course, it’s not Their Majesties’ only residence and they also love spending time at their countryside home, Highgrove House, as well as their Scottish home Birkhall. However, for the moment Clarence House is their primary London home until the time comes where they might potentially move into Buckingham Palace - which remains their official London residence.
Even if this does happen, it’s thought that King Charles and Queen Camilla probably won’t be making the move until at least 2027 as the Buckingham Palace reservicing programme is set to be completed that year. King Charles and Queen Camilla are understood to have lived at Clarence House since 2003 and it’s described by the Royal Family’s website as being the last great London house to be maintained in the purpose for which it was built.
Clarence House is located beside St James’s Palace and was built between 1825 and 1827. It was designed by John Nash for Prince William Henry, Duke of Clarence, who went on to become King William IV. It was this monarch who also had Prince William and Kate’s home, Adelaide Cottage, built for his wife Queen Adelaide a few years later.
Throughout its history Clarence House has been the home of several other generations of royals, including Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip after they married in 1947. Prince William and Prince Harry also once lived at Clarence House until they moved out into Kensington Palace in 2011 and 2012 respectively.
However, it was perhaps most well-known prior to King Charles and Queen Camilla moving in as the former residence of Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother. She lived there from 1953 until she passed away in 2002 and the Royal Family’s website suggests that the arrangement of the rooms and the way their contents are grouped remains recognisably as they were in the Queen Mother’s time.
This includes having a lot of her art and furniture collection being kept in their former positions. King Charles is understood to have been incredibly close to his grandmother and spent a lot of time with her at Clarence House.
On 4th August 2021 the Clarence House Instagram account paid tribute to the Queen Mother on what would've been her 121st birthday and shared two pictures taken there, including one of a display of photos and a silver vase with rosemary that was given to the Queen Mother as a gift on her 100th birthday. The second depicted her with King Charles, Princess Anne and baby Prince Andrew in the gardens at Clarence House.
Whilst the King clearly wanted to keep a lot of details similar to how they were during his grandmother’s lifetime, Clarence House also underwent extensive refurbishment and decoration to prepare for him to move in. Most rooms had the colour schemes adjusted and new textiles were introduced, with artwork added in too. These alterations were designed to reflect the change of occupancy, while maintaining the familiar atmosphere of a much-loved family house.
Where is Clarence House and how far is it to Buckingham Palace?
They might not yet permanently live at Buckingham Palace, but King Charles and Queen Camilla’s Clarence House home is only a four minute drive away down The Mall. This is very convenient whenever they are required to be at Buckingham Palace for certain engagements or events like Trooping the Colour.
The short distance between these two royal residences was made incredibly clear on Prince William and Kate’s wedding day in April 2011 when the groom drove his new wife back to Clarence House from Buckingham Palace in King Charles’s beautiful blue Aston Martin.
Who owns Clarence House?
King Charles and Queen Camilla don’t privately own Clarence House and it’s instead owned by the Crown, but as monarch King Charles has the right to live there. This is similar to many other iconic royal residences, with certain exceptions like the estate where Sandringham House is and Balmoral which are privately owned by the monarch personally, rather than by right of being Sovereign.
How many bedrooms does Clarence House have?
Clarence House is understood to have five bedrooms which might come as a surprise to some people, who could have imagined it having even more given that it is the primary residence of the King and Queen.
It also has a drawing room with a fireplace, a morning room with personal photos, artwork and antiques on display and other principle rooms which are used for receptions and when King Charles and Queen Camilla officially entertain guests.
Unlike Bagshot Park where Duchess Sophie and Prince Edward live, King Charles and Queen Camilla don’t keep their home incredibly private as they use it so much for official duties. King Charles also previously allowed Google Arts and Culture to take 360-degree imagery of the inside of his home, in order to allow the public to take a look at the extensive royal art collection in his luxury home.
The tour, created to mark his 70th birthday back in 2018, allows users to look inside the King's garden room, dining room, library, entrance hall, corridor, and the Lancaster and Morning room. The tour also allows royal fans a sneak peek into some of King Charles's private collection of photographs and of a selection of three watercolours painted by the monarch himself.
King Charles's former communications secretary, Julian Payne, revealed that His Majesty and his household worked closely with Google to create this function.
"I have to say the [then] prince was fascinated by the opportunity that arts and culture provides to connect people to museums, other cultural institutions and provide access which they wouldn't necessarily otherwise have, and so he was very taken with its potential," Julian said, as per The Standard.
He added, "So when we received the invitation to develop the site for the prince he was honoured and I think fascinated by what could be done for the charities more than anything else, but also understood to share things like the artwork in Clarence House."
Is Clarence House open to the public?
Clarence House is currently closed to visitors and though it used to be open to the public, this only used to be during the summer months. Visitors weren’t allowed access to the entire property. Instead, you could have a guided tour of five of the most historic rooms on the ground floor of Clarence House and the adjoining spaces.
