SANDRINGHAM

While the pandemic has disrupted plans in the last two years, in a normal year the Queen retires to her Norfolk home, Sandringham, from Christmas to February. This country house was bought by Queen Victoria in 1862 for her son (later Edward VII) and has been the retreat of four generations of sovereigns.

Sitting at the heart of an 8,000-acre estate, Sandringham has long been used for royal shooting parties. Edward VII, who was fond of hunting, once decreed that the clocks be set half an hour early in order to increase the amount of daylight for hunting. This came to be known as ‘Sandringham time’ and was kept from 1901 to 1936, when the clocks were returned to Greenwich Mean Time by Edward VIII.

The house is open to visitors, and the eight rooms that you can enter have a cosy, unpretentious feel. Squishy armchairs abound in the Saloon, where there’s a jigsaw table (the

Queen is reportedly fond of puzzles), and the house is dotted with family portraits. George V called it “dear old

Sandringham, the place I love better than anywhere else in the world,” and his grandson, George VI, wrote,

“I have always been happy here and

I love the place.” Sandringham still feels like a much-loved family home.

How to visit The royal parkland is open all year, the gardens at weekends in February and March, and the house between April and

October. sandringhamestate.co.uk