Buckingham Palace aerial view 2016 (cropped)

Sandringham House from the air (cropped)

British royal residences are palaces, castles and houses occupied by members of the British royal family in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

. Some, like

Buckingham Palace Buckingham Palace () is a London royal residence and the administrative headquarters of the monarch of the United Kingdom. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is often at the centre of state occasions and royal hospitality. It ...

and

Windsor Castle Windsor Castle is a royal residence at Windsor in the English county of Berkshire. It is strongly associated with the English and succeeding British royal family, and embodies almost a millennium of architectural history. The original c ...

, are owned by

the Crown The Crown is the state in all its aspects within the jurisprudence of the Commonwealth realms and their subdivisions (such as the Crown Dependencies, overseas territories, provinces, or states). Legally ill-defined, the term has different ...

(ownership by the British monarch is by virtue of his or her position as king or queen), while others like Balmoral Castle and

Sandringham House Sandringham House is a country house in the parish of Sandringham, Norfolk, England. It is one of the royal residences of Charles III, whose grandfather, George VI, and great-grandfather, George V, both died there. The house stands in a estat ...

are personally owned and have been passed down for generations. Some royal palaces, such as the Palace of Westminster (now used as the House of Parliament), are no longer residences. Some remain in irregular use for royal occasions, such as

Hillsborough Castle Hillsborough Castle is an official government residence in Northern Ireland. It is the official residence of the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland,

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

. The royal palaces enjoy certain legal privileges known as

royal prerogative The royal prerogative is a body of customary authority, privilege and immunity, recognized in common law and, sometimes, in civil law jurisdictions possessing a monarchy, as belonging to the sovereign and which have become widely vested in th ...

s: for example, there is an exemption from levying duty on alcoholic beverages sold in the bars at the Palace of Westminster and there are exemptions from health and safety legislation. According to '' Halsbury's Laws of England'', it is not possible to arrest a person within the "verges" of a royal palace (though this assertion is contradicted by a memorandum by the

Clerk of the House of Commons The Clerk of the House of Commons is the chief executive of the House of Commons in the Parliament of the United Kingdom, and before 1707 of the House of Commons of England. The formal name for the position held by the Clerk of the House of Com ...

in respect of the Palace of Westminster) and, when a royal palace is used as a residence (regardless of whether the monarch is actually living there at the time), judicial processes cannot be executed within that palace. The occupied royal residences are cared for and maintained by the Property Section of the

Royal Households of the United Kingdom The Royal Households of the United Kingdom are the collective departments that support members of the British royal family. Many members of the royal family who undertake public duties have separate households. They vary considerably in size, ...

. The unoccupied royal palaces of England, along with Hillsborough Castle, are the responsibility of

Historic Royal Palaces Historic Royal Palaces is an independent charity that manages some of the United Kingdom's unoccupied royal palaces. These are: * Tower of London * Hampton Court Palace * Kensington Palace (State Apartments and Orangery) * The Banqueting Hous ...

. Unlike the other nations of the United Kingdom, there is no official residence for a member of the royal family in

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

;

Llwynywermod Llwynywermod ( cy, Llwynywermwd ), also known as Llwynywormwood, is an estate owned by the Duchy of Cornwall, just outside the Brecon Beacons National Park in Carmarthenshire, Wales. The estate is near the village of Myddfai, Llandovery, Carma ...

is the private Welsh residence of the Prince of Wales.

Current royal residences

Residences in London Residences in or near Windsor Other residences

Former royal residences

References

External links

Art and residences
at the royal family website {{Royal palaces in the United Kingdom *

Royal residences Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Royal, Iowa, a c ...

Royal Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Royal, Iowa, a cit ...

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

Current royal residences

Former royal residences

See also

References

External links