Queen Elizabeth II has many residences that she travels to and from regularly, but only one of them is her primary London residence.
For decades, this has been Buckingham Palace, but in recent years—due to the global pandemic and extensive renovations at the iconic London palace—her primary residence has become Windsor Castle.
What is a primary residence? And where does The Queen spend her year? Today, let’s take a look at the places Queen Elizabeth calls home.
Buckingham Palace
Buckingham Palace has been the official and primary London residence of British monarchs since 1837 when Queen Victoria’s accession. Prior to this, she’d been living at Kensington Palace. And much like the present Queen’s accession in 1952, she moved from Clarence House with her young family to Buckingham Palace and lived there for decades.
The Royal Family website notes that Buckingham Palace serves as the administrative headquarters of the monarchy—this is where The Queen and her family, mostly, hold their offices and where a majority of official events take place each year.
Since the renovations began, the royals who do have London offices—The Princess Royal, The Earl and Countess of Wessex, The Duke of Kent and Princess Alexandra—have sourced offices at other palaces, like St James’s Palace.
The Queen moved to Windsor Castle at the beginning of the global pandemic and has since maintained the 900-year-old fortress as her primary residence.
Windsor Castle
At the start of the global pandemic in March 2020, Queen Elizabeth and the late Duke of Edinburgh were shuttled off to isolate at Windsor Castle in an operation that became known as HMS Bubble.
Ordinarily, The Queen would use Windsor Castle as her residence during the Easter Court, which is a month-long court from March to April and carry out official engagements from this residence. The Queen would also typically use Windsor Castle for the week in June that coincides with the Order of the Garter service and Royal Ascot.
The Queen and Prince Philip celebrated Christmas 2020 at Windsor Castle by themselves—the first time since 1987 that the holiday season wasn’t spent at Sandringham and without the wider Royal Family in attendance.
Sandringham House
A privately-owned royal residence, Sandringham House is the location of the Royal Family’s Christmas celebrations. In an ordinary year, The Queen would travel up to Sandringham, in Norfolk, in the days leading up to Christmas, and would spend two months there, returning to London in February.
The Queen typically marks the anniversary of her father’s death at Sandringham and the anniversary of her own accession—6 February—privately at the estate.
Balmoral Castle
The Queen’s beloved Scottish retreat, Balmoral Castle, is the location of her summer residence. Every year, The Queen travels up to the home in Aberdeenshire and spends a few days at Craigowan Lodge on the grounds of the estate while the building is still open to the public.
Once the building and grounds are closed for the year, The Queen moves in and spends August and most of September in this private royal residence. Members of the Royal Family travel up to spend weekends with her, and some even have their own homes on the estate, like the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall, who stay at Birkhall.
Once The Queen’s summer holiday is over, she returns to London.
