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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Susie Beever

Palaces and castles Charles may use as next home as new king faces tough choices

After years of dividing his time between Highgrove and Clarence House, King Charles III now has the top job.

As King, he will have a choice of palaces at his fingertips to make his official residence.

While Prince of Wales, Charles has previously said he would prefer to keep Clarence House as his London residence.

But many speculate new duties may require the new King to move.

Several royal commentators have predicted he will likely move officially to Buckingham Palace, where he and Queen Consort Camilla will reside in their own private apartments.

Like the Queen, his time will be divided between there and Windsor Castle, where the Prince and Princess of Wales will move, as well as Sandringham and Balmoral during their holidays.

Buckingham Palace is the monarchy's official residence, although neither the Queen nor Charles are said to have enjoyed living there (Getty Images)

Charles' office back in 2017 confirmed that Buckingham Palace would remain the monarchy's official residence and that there were no plans to change this any time soon.

But much like his mother, Charles, reportedly, does not enjoy residing at there and has for decades lived permanently at Highgrove House in Gloucestershire.

Previous sources claim, for this reason, he may opt to not live there permanently, but simply use it for royal business such as official appointments, receptions and state banquets.

The new King has some tough choices to make, one royal source told The Times.

“He is going to have to weigh up the cost against the importance of keeping these palaces and castles and residences truly royal by using them,” they said.

Clarence House has been Charles' London residence while he was Prince of Wales, although it is not known whether he will stay there as King (Chris Jackson/Getty Images)

In his book The Diamond Queen, broadcaster Andrew Marr wrote that as King, Charles was considering moving officially to Windsor and opening Buckingham Palace to the public as a glorified heritage centre.

It's understood the Queen was not happy about this proposal and wanted to keep it as a family home.

“One of the more dramatic ideas that has been discussed is for the Royal Family in his reign to leave Buckingham Palace entirely, leaving it as a kind of grand official government hotel and centre for events," Marr wrote.

"The King would base himself not in London but at Windsor Castle.”

Prince William and Kate are expected to move to Windsor Castle now (Getty Images)

We now know however that Windsor will become the new home of Prince William, Kate and their three children George, Charlotte and Louis.

The family is moving in despite having only this month moved to nearby Adelaide Cottage to give the children more privacy.

Upon the Queen's death, William will also technically inherit Charles' beloved Highgrove estate, as it was bought in 1980 for the Duchy of Cornwall title.

Charles was then appointed a lifelong tenant, so even if he continues to live there as King, he will technically be a tenant of his own son who takes on the Duchy title.

If he does hang on to it, that means he is unlikely to use Sandringham as much as the Queen did.

The Norfolk estate was traditionally where the Royal Family would spend Christmas.

Sandringham House in Norfolk, where the Queen would traditionally spend the festive season (Getty Images)

The King also owns a Welsh cottage, Llwynywermod.

With all these magnificent buildings and predictions that Charles III will be a more frugal monarch, it's foreseeable he may look to slim down his number of estates.

“When you add it all up that is a lot of buildings," the source told The Times.

"He is going to have to find a balance . . . He is going to be deliberately cost-conscious, the whole slimmed-down monarchy thing."

The source added: "The answer might be to open more of them more often to the public and use that income to cover costs.”

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