King Charles III has lived at Clarence House for nearly two decades and has expressed how much he enjoys living there. However, he will most likely be moving sometime in the future to Buckingham Palace.
Clarence House is nearly 200 years old and was built by John Nash for the Duke of Clarence, uncle to Queen Victoria, between 1825 and 1827.
In the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, several many different royals have called it home. The then-Princess Elizabeth and Duke of Edinburgh shortly lived at Clarence House before she became Queen. The Queen Mother and Princess Margaret moved out of Buckingham Palace and into Clarence House, and The Queen Mother remained there until her death in 2002.
Now that Charles is King, it is expected that he will be moving into Buckingham Palace. While the court is officially known as the Court of St James’s, the monarch does not live at St James’s Palace. The official London residence of the monarch is Buckingham Palace.
It is unlikely that the new King and Queen Consort will be moving into Buckingham Palace immediately, as there will be considerable work to do on downsizing the living quarters. As it will only be the couple moving in, the current area of over 50 royal and guest rooms (as well as almost 200 staff rooms) is not needed.
However, while it was originally thought that the couple would remain at Clarence House and use Buckingham Palace solely for work, it is now being reported that they will be moving to the palace. This makes sense, as he will want some sense of continuity between his mother’s reign and his own, and Buckingham Palace has been the home of the monarch since Queen Victoria’s reign.
No formal announcements have been made about The King’s residences, or any other royal residences. The Royal Family is officially in mourning until Monday, 26 September. It is possible that we could see some of the royal residences open up to the public more, in the same vein as Windsor Castle and the Palace of Holyrood, but those announcements will come in time.
