After Princess Elizabeth married Prince Philip in 1947, the newlyweds enjoyed living at Clarence House, which they had decorated to their tastes. When Princess Anne was born there three years later, the four-storey property in The Mall cemented itself in the affections of the couple.
After Elizabeth’s father, George VI, died in 1952 and she was crowned Queen the following year, the prime minister, Sir Winston Churchill, asked her to move into Buckingham Palace.
This request went down badly with the couple, who wanted to remain in their home.
Churchill strongly believed that the Royal Family needed to live at Buckingham Palace, the historic symbol of national unity.
The Queen reluctantly agreed to move, but, according to Michael Parker, who was the Duke of Edinburgh’s private secretary at the time and travelled with the family as they left on the short journey to Buckingham Palace, ‘there was not a dry eye in that car’.
The Queen lived there for most of her record-breaking reign, until her final years when she remained at Windsor Castle, which she much preferred.
Her move to Windsor coincided with an extensive renovation programme at Buckingham Palace, which began in 2017. The Government allocated a staggering £369million of taxpayers’ money for the scheme.
At the time, royal aides rejected claims that Prince Charles intended to use it as a sort of ‘monarchy HQ’ rather than his residence, Clarence House, when he eventually became king. ‘Buckingham Palace will remain the official residence of the monarch,’ said a statement from Clarence House.
Nicky Haslam, an old friend of Queen Camilla, said: ‘Turning Buckingham Palace into an office is wrong. William won’t use it either. It stops Buckingham Palace being the jewel in the crown’
Since King Charles ascended the throne in 2022, he and Queen Camilla have, however, stayed at Clarence House, which he inherited from his beloved grandmother, Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, after her death two decades earlier.
Unlike Winston Churchill, no prime minister has told the King to move to Buckingham Palace. And this has left some prominent royalists disappointed.
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As I reported in my social diary column, Eden Confidential, in the Daily Mail today, interior designer Nicky Haslam, an old friend of Queen Camilla, warned that it would be a grave mistake for her and the King not to live at the palace.
‘Turning Buckingham Palace into an office is wrong. Period,’ said the Old Etonian, 86, whose mother, Diamond Ponsonby, was one of Queen Victoria’s goddaughters. ‘William won’t use it either. It stops Buckingham Palace being the jewel in the crown.’
Haslam believes that the palace would lose its appeal to tourists if it was no longer a royal residence. ‘If people think it’s an office they won’t go there,’ he said.
I have noticed myself that stately homes still used by their titled owners seem to be more attractive to visitors. Part of the appeal of Chatsworth in Derbyshire, for example, is that the Duke of Devonshire’s family live there.
When I visited Arundel Castle, in West Sussex, recently, there were new photographs of the Duke of Norfolk and his family on display in the rooms open to the public, which added to its charms.
It’s easy to see why the King and Queen prefer Clarence House, an elegant family home, to the vast Buckingham Palace with its 775 rooms. Yet it’s their duty to move out.
The Queen lived at Buckingham Palace (pictured) for most of her record-breaking reign, until her final years when she remained at Windsor Castle, which she much preferred
I hear whispers, however, that Their Majesties will never live at the palace. ‘Buckingham Palace will be used for royal events,’ a source tells me. ‘There will be investitures, receptions and banquets, but the King and Queen won’t sleep there.’
This leaves me worried for the future of the monarchy. The King’s grandfather, George VI, and his wife, Queen Elizabeth, defied Adolf Hitler and remained at Buckingham Palace throughout the war, even during the nine occasions when German bombs fell on it.
Churchill knew the symbolic power of the King being at the nation’s home.
That is why the Government agreed to spend £369 million of taxpayers’ money on restoring the palace to its former glory.
For King Charles to abandon it at a time of peace would be a serious mistake.