Royal Residences - Buckingham Palace
* BUCKINGHAM PALACE - London *
The Palace is very much a working building and the centrepiece of Britain's constitutional monarchy. It houses the offices of those who support the day-to-day activities and duties of The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh and their immediate family.
* WINDSOR CASTLE - Windsor *
Windsor Castle is an official residence of The Queen and the largest occupied castle in the world. A Royal home and fortress for over 900 years, the Castle remains a working palace today.
The Queen uses the Castle both as a private home, where she usually spends the weekend, and as a Royal residence at which she undertakes certain formal duties.
Every year The Queen takes up official residence in Windsor Castle for a month over Easter (March-April), known as Easter Court. During that time The Queen hosts occasional 'dine and sleeps' events for guests, including politicians and public figures.
The Queen is also in residence for a week in June, when she attends the service of the Order of the Garter and the Royal Ascot race meeting.
* SANDRINGHAM HOUSE - Norfolk *
Sandringham House in Norfolk has been the private home of four generations of Sovereigns since 1862. The Queen and other members of the Royal Family regularly spend Christmas at Sandringham and make it their official base until February each year.
* PALACE OF HOLYROODHOUSE - Holyrood, Scotland *
Holyroodhouse is the setting for State ceremonies and official entertaining. During The Queen's Holyrood week, which usually runs from the end of June to the beginning of July, Her Majesty carries out a wide range of official engagements in Scotland.
* BALMORAL CASTLE - Ballater, Aberdeenshire *
Balmoral Castle on the Balmoral Estate in Aberdeenshire, Scotland is the private residence of The Queen. Beloved by Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, Balmoral Castle has remained a favourite residence for The Queen and her family during the summer holiday period in August and September.
*FROGMORE HOUSE - Windsor *
Frogmore House is no longer a Royal Residence, but the house and gardens are sometimes used by the Royal Family for official purposes such as receptions.
Other Royal residence's are:-
St James Palace, London.
Kensington Palace, Kensington, London.
Clarence House, London.
Throughout the centuries, Britain's Kings & Queens have built or bought palaces to serve as family homes, workplaces and as centres of government.
The residences still standing today can be roughly divided into three categories:
Official Royal residences which are held in trust for future generations. As well as being family homes for members of the Royal Family, these are also working buildings which are used for housing the offices of staff from the Royal Household, entertaining official guests and hosting formal events and ceremonies. The best-known of these residences are probably Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle.
Private Estates are owned by The Queen and are often used to generate private income through farming or public access to Royal residences, they also house some well-known private residences such as Balmoral Castle and Sandringham House.
Unoccupied Royal residences are all other buildings in Great Britain which once housed members of the Royal Family and are therefore of historical interest. These buildings are owned by numerous bodies and individuals and many are open to the general public. Because of the sheer number of these buildings, it is impossible to provide a definitive list and only those run by Historic Royal Palaces are marked on the locations map.
The Historic Royal Palaces are a specific set of former Royal residences which are owned by The Queen on behalf of the nation and run by an independent charity known as Historical Royal Palaces. These palaces are: the Tower of London, Hampton Court Palace, the Banqueting House, Kensington Palace and Kew Palace.
Full details about visiting the State Rooms, the Royal Mews and The Queen's Gallery at Buckingham Palace, Clarence House, Windsor Castle and Frogmore House, the Palace of Holyroodhouse and The Queen's Gallery in Edinburgh are available from the Royal Collection website.
Visitor information for Balmoral is available from the Balmoral Castle website. http://www.balmoralcastle.com/
Visitor information for Sandringham is available from the Sandringham Estate website. http://www.sandringhamestate.co.uk/
Information on visiting the Tower of London, Kensington Palace, Hampton Court Palace and the Banqueting House is available from the Historic Royal Palaces website. http://www.hrp.org.uk/HamptonCourtPalace/