While my family and I were galavanting around London and Scotland, the Windsors stayed busy. This flurry of summer activity before their extended break is to be expected: Trooping the Colour is always followed by Garter Day and Royal Ascot. Last Thursday, however, they slipped in some sizable news: King Charles III became the first king to reveal his tax figures, sharing he has paid more than £50 million since 2022. What’s more, the king announced he will not be moving into Buckingham Palace after renovations are complete.
The finances, though consequential, raised more questions for me than they answered. What I have been ruminating on is the latter bit, how Charles has decided to end nearly two centuries of the British sovereign calling the iconic London landmark home.
Together with Queen Camilla, the king will remain at nearby Clarence House, where he has lived since 2003. Buckingham Palace will continue to be the couple’s working headquarters and “the ceremonial centre of Royal life,” the release said.
The king’s choice to opt out of sleeping at “Monarchy HQ” has been quietly understood in royal circles for years. The sprawling, dated palace affords little privacy (and the occasional, well-documented pest infestation). As a young queen, his mother had to be compelled to move her family there by Winston Churchill.
When I saw the news, my first thought was: Of course, he was never going to live there.
But the more I mulled it over, the more I came to realize that Charles making this official — particularly after extensive and costly renovations — is a milestone moment for the British monarchy. He is forgoing the family’s most famous palace. In American terms, can you imagine a president turning down the White House?
More on the decision below. I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments.
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PS: I am hard at work on a recap of our incredible family trip to London and Scotland. I can’t wait to share our adventures with you!
As I stood on the Mall earlier this month, Buckingham Palace occupying its stately spot at the head, I struck up a conversation with our tour guide named Gary about the palace’s future as a royal residence.
Since Queen Victoria moved in at the age 18 in 1837, every reigning British monarch has called Buckingham Palace their official home. More recent sovereigns and their offspring have done so dutifully, if not particularly enthusiastically. “Life in a palace rather resembles camping in a museum,” is how Marion Crawford, nanny to then-Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret, described it in her 1950 memoir.
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