‘No one wants to upsize at 74...’ Why the King may stay put at cosy Clarence House
THE KING and Queen Consort are likely to continue to live at Clarence House in central London and use Buckingham Palace as their administrative HQ, royal experts believe.
It is up to the King where he will live and the couple have a range of options including Balmoral, Sandringham andwindsor Castle.
But they are understood to prefer Clarence House, and this would also make the King’s security arrangements more straightforward.
Once used by the Queen Mother, Clarence House is loved because of its cosiness.
Royal author Hugovickers explained: “No one wants to live in Buckingham Palace. It’s like an Edwardian hotel.”
He said Clarence House would have been the Queen’s choice too but whenwinston Churchill wanted her to live at Buckingham Palace she did so.
“Clarence House is like a country house in the middle of the city – what could be better than that? And it shares its garden with St
James’s Palace,” he said. “The King is nearly 74 and at that age one doesn’t particularly want to upsize.”
Charles has inherited all the Queen’s properties and retains his own homes – Birkhall at Balmoral and the Castle of Mey.
The Duchy of Cornwall, inherited by Prince William, also owns a 90-acre property in Carmarthenshire, Wales.
Mr Vickers added: “There is a rumour that Charles intends to turn over Balmoral to the nation, which would be a lovely memorial to the Queen.”
Remaining at Clarence House will give the King’s protection teams a welcome continuity, said Dai Davies, who commanded security operations as part of the Metropolitan Police’s Royalty Protection Command unit.
He said: “A full security review is under way now that Charles has acceded to the throne and some of these details will depend on where the King chooses to live.”