As the royal family ponders where Prince Andrew and Sarah, Duchess of York, might live next, one thing is clear — there’s no shortage of royal residences to choose from.
According to a document from 2023, there are 22 properties in the royals’ portfolio, ranging from central London palaces to rural estates and holiday cottages.
Some are owned by the Crown Estate — the state-controlled portfolio accumulated by monarchs over centuries; others by the Duchy of Cornwall, a hereditary estate which passes down with the heir to the throne; some are owned by the king in right of the crown, others are owned privately.
As Andrew is understood to be in talks to move out of Royal Lodge — and the Prince and Princess of Wales prepare to move their family between homes on the Windsor estate — here is a (not-exhaustive) list of the royal residences, their size, their worth — and availability for new tenants. Values are estimates because there are no directly comparable properties on the market.
Windsor
The 16,000-acre Windsor estate — the location of state visits and royal weddings — hosts multiple different properties within its borders.
The 900-year-old Windsor Castle is the largest occupied castle in the world, with more than 1,000 rooms and 52 bedrooms. It has been estimated to be worth in excess of £500 million.
Windsor Castle
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Within its grounds lies the Royal Lodge, worth an estimated £30 million. The 30-room mansion, which includes seven bedrooms, also includes a chapel and cottages in its extensive grounds.
Royal Lodge
Andrew moved into the property in 2004 after signing a 75-year lease and paying an initial down payment of £1 million. Andrew spent £7.5 million on renovations on the lodge, which was previously home to Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, who died in 2002.
Frogmore Cottage
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Frogmore Cottage — one option said to be on the table for Andrew — was a wedding gift from the late Queen Elizabeth to the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, but has been empty since their departure in 2023. The couple renovated the ten-bedroom grade II listed building into a five-bedroom home with a yoga studio, orangeries and a vegetable garden for £2.4 million. There are no valuations of the property, although similar five-bedroom properties in central Windsor have sold for up to £3 million.
Nearby Adelaide Cottage — one option said to be on the table for Sarah Ferguson — has been the home of the Prince and Princess of Wales since 2022. Their three children are said to be happy at the independent Lambrook School in the nearby Berkshire countryside, but the family are looking to upsize from the four-bedroom family home. There are no valuations of the property, although similar four-bedroom properties in central Windsor have sold for up to £1.7 million in the recent past.
Forest Lodge
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The Waleses are reported to be moving to the larger Forest Lodge, their “forever home”, where the family will stay even when William becomes King.
Renovations at the grade II listed property have begun and will be funded by the couple. The 328-year-old lodge has eight bedrooms, but William and Kate will not have any live-in staff. It is estimated to be worth up to £16 million.
London
The royal residences in London are far grander.
The biggest, Buckingham Palace, has 775 rooms including 19 state rooms, 52 royal and guest bedrooms, as well as 188 staff bedrooms. The palace has served as the official London residence of sovereigns since 1837 and remains the administrative headquarters of the monarch today despite major renovations. It is estimated to be worth more than £3 billion.
Buckingham Palace
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A couple of miles away is Kensington Palace, where Charles and Diana, Princess of Wales, lived after their wedding and where they raised William and Harry. The palace now contains multiple offices and private residences, including Apartment 1A, the 20-room wing where Kate and William lived previously.
On the grounds is Wren House, a five-bedroom cottage where Prince Edward, the Duke of Kent, has lived since 1978.
St James’s Palace on the Mall is similarly divided into apartments, including Princess Anne’s London residence, and offices for the Royal Court.
The palace, which hosts up to 100 charity receptions a year, is about 500 years old and is valued at £514 million.
Clarence House
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Nearby Clarence House is the King’s London residence, where he is expected to remain until at least 2027 while Buckingham Palace is renovated. It has five bedrooms and is estimated to be worth £52.5 million.
In the country
Outside London is the King’s family residence, Highgrove House in Gloucestershire. The three-storey, nine-bedroom house has stables, staff accommodation and nearly 1,000 acres of land. Charles originally lived here with Diana after they married, and it is estimated to be worth £3.9 million.
Also in Gloucestershire, Princess Anne lives at 250-year-old Gatcombe Park, a nine-bedroom Bath stone manor house estimated to be worth £6 million.
Within its 700-acre grounds is Aston Farm, a seven-bedroom farmhouse where her daughter, Zara Tindall, lives with her husband Mike and their children. Gatcombe Park is also the location for the cottage of Peter Phillips, the princess’s son.
In Norfolk, there is the King’s private country retreat, Sandringham House, where the royal family gather for Christmas. The 155-year-old main house is reported to have 29 bedrooms, while the 20,000-acre estate is valued at an estimated £60 million.
The estate includes several private properties for staff and tenant farmers, as well as Anmer Hall, which was a wedding gift from the late Queen to Kate and William. The couple lived at the ten-bedroom house, which has a swimming pool and tennis court, before moving the family closer to Windsor.
Wood Farm, also on the Sandringham estate, is a five-bedroom farmhouse cottage where the late Queen would regularly stay instead of opening up the mansion house. Prince Phillip used it as a personal retreat from his retirement from public life in 2017 until his death in 2021.
In Surrey, Prince Edward and his wife Sophie, the Duchess of Edinburgh, live at grade II listed Bagshot Park, a 120-room manor house in 51 acres of countryside, worth about £30 million.
Scotland
The royal family’s Scottish residence is Balmoral Castle in Aberdeenshire, a favourite of the late Queen. The 167-room Scottish baronial castle includes 52 bedrooms and is worth an estimated £80 million.
Balmoral Castle
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There are multiple residences within the 50,000-acre estate, including Delnadamph Lodge and Craigowan Lodge, a seven-bedroom stone cottage a mile from the main house and near a nine-hole golf course. Andrew has stayed there multiple times, including on a visit this summer with the duchess. It was the location of Charles and Diana’s first official photocall shortly before their wedding in 1981.
Birkhall House, also on Balmoral grounds, is where Charles and Camilla spent their honeymoon and, more recently, isolated during Covid-19 lockdowns.
Also in Scotland is the Castle of Mey, a 16th-century castle on the north coast where the Queen Mother previously lived. The Scottish castle has 38 rooms, including 15 bedrooms, a library, a billiards room and reportedly a trap door in the dining room leading to a dungeon.
Despite the size of Balmoral, the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh is in fact the official residence of the monarchy in Scotland. Founded as a monastery in 1128, it lies at the end of the Royal Mile, where 17 of its 289 rooms are open to the public for tours. The palace is estimated to be worth up to £60 million.
In addition to the above, the King and William were revealed to own more than 5,000 plots of land through their private fiefdoms — the Duchy of Lancaster and the Duchy of Cornwall.
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