Palaces and Royal Houses

Ancient palace and fortress in Granada, famous for its fountains, nightingales and trees; built by Moslem rulers (Moors) in the 13th and 14th centuries			Alhambra Palace
Deeside castle (near the village of Crathie, just off the A93 between Braemar and Ballater): bought by Prince Albert in 1852, and rebuilt to his design 1853–5; Edward VII called it "That highland barn of one thousand draughts"			Balmoral
Designed by Prince Albert			Balmoral, Osborne
Built by Henry I, just outside Oxford, c. 1130; Richard I was born there in 1157 and King John in 1167. Remanded to the Carmelites by Edward II in 1318, in thanks for his safe escape after defeat at Bannockburn. Demolished in the Reformation, most of the material being used in Christ's College and St. John's College. Gave its name to the street where the Ashmolean Museum now stands			Beaumont Palace
Built 1703 on the site of James I's mulberry orchard; bought by George III 1762; rebuilt by John Nash 1821–36; partially redesigned in the early 20th century			Buckingham Palace
The Marble Arch (now at the junction of Oxford Street, Park Lane and Bayswater Road) was originally the entrance to
Chateau on the River Cher, in the Loire valley, bought by King Charles VIII of France in 1513			Chenonceau
Queen Mother's official London residence, from 1952 until her death in 2002; subsequently the official residence of Prince Charles, the Duchess of Cornwall, and princes William and Harry. Designed by John Nash for, and named after, William IV (before his accession); attached to St. James's Palace, and shares its garden			Clarence House
Dating to the early 18th century, bought by Louis XV in 1753 for his mistress Madame de Pompadour; since 1848, the official residence of the French President			Élysée Palace
Monastery 60 kilometres (35 miles) to the north–west of Madrid, where most Spanish monarchs have been buried since 1563, when it was founded by Felipe (Philip) II as a mausoleum for his father, Charles I			El Escorial
Country house in Windsor Great Park (near Sunningdale) – home of Edward VIII 1930–6 – he signed the Instrument of Abdication there			Fort Belvedere
Grade II listed building in Windsor Home Park, built in 1801 at the direction of Queen Charlotte: became the home of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex in 2019, when it was revealed that it had been renovated at a cost to the taxpayer of £2.4 million			Frogmore Cottage
Princess Anne's home in the Cotswolds			Gatcombe Park
Castle mentioned in Macbeth, birthplace of Princess Margaret and once the home of the Queen Mother			Glamis
Built around 1443 by Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester – youngest son of Henry IV, brother of Henry V – and named Bella Court; renamed Placentia ('Pleasant Place') by Margaret of Anjou, consort of Henry VI; rebuilt by Henry VII around 1500; birthplace of Henry VII and Mary I; demolished in 1660 by Charles II, who intended to replace it but never did			Greenwich Palace
Built by Cardinal Wolsey in 1515, and presented by him to Henry VIII in 1525			Hampton Court
Edward VI was born there, and Charles I held prisoner
The main residence outside London of William & Mary, who engaged Christopher Wren to modernise and enlarge it (it was suffering in comparison to Versailles)
George II was the last sovereign to live there; opened to the public, free of charge, by Queen Victoria in 1838; extensively damaged by fire in 1986
Hosts an annual music festival in June (since 1993) and the world's biggest flower show (run by the RHS) in July (since 1990)
Childhood home of Anne Boleyn: near Sevenoaks, Kent; built in the 13th century, bought 1906, and extensively restored, by the US financier William Waldorf Astor			Hever Castle
Official residence of the sovereign while in Scotland; situated at the foot of Edinburgh's Royal Mile			Holyrood House
Princess Margaret's London residence			Kensington Palace
Castle near John o'Groats, bought by the Queen Mother in 1952 and restored by her for use as a holiday home; left in her will to a charitable trust and now open to the public			Castle of Mey
Henry VIII's palace near Ewell, Surrey: perhaps the grandest of his building projects; in 1670 it was given by Charles II to his mistress – Barbara, Countess of Castlemaine – who had it pulled down around 1682–3, and sold off the building materials to pay gambling debts			Nonsuch
Queen Victoria and Prince Albert's summer home and rural retreat on the Isle of Wight: designed by Prince Albert in the style of an Italian Renaissance palazzo, and built between 1845 and 1851; Victoria died there 50 years later			Osborne House
Spanish royal palace on the outskirts of Madrid: built in the early 15th century by Henry III of Castile, as a hunting lodge; transformed into a palace by Charles V (1547); renovated in the 18th century following a fire in 1604, and doubled in size in the early 20th; home to Franco during his dictatorship			Palace of El Pardo
Main residence of the English monarchs from 1530 until 1698, when most of its structures, except for Inigo Jones's Banqueting House of 1622, were destroyed by fire; gave its name to the street that led to the front of it			Palace of Whitehall
Lhasa residence of the Dalai Lama, until the 14th fled to India 1959			Potala Palace
Bought by Queen Victoria 1862, at the request of the Prince of Wales (later Edward VII) as a residence for himself and his new bride Alexandra			Sandringham House
King Frederick the Great (of Prussia)'s palace at Potsdam, near Berlin (a French term meaning "carefree")			Sanssouci
Hotel on the site of (and named after) John of Gaunt's palace on the Strand			Savoy
Hall at Windsor Castle where the 1992 fire was concentrated			St. George's Hall
Official residence of British monarchs, 1698 – 1837 (Pall Mall); Queen Victoria and Prince Albert married there in 1840			St. James's Palace
Hamlet near Versailles, that gave its name to two palaces (the Grand and Petit) built by Louis XIV in the 1670s, one of which in turn gave its name to the treaty of 1920 that formally ended hostilities in World War I between most of the Allies and the Kingdom of Hungary			Trianon
French royal palace next to the Louvre, destroyed by arson 1871			Tuileries Palace
Hall of Mirrors			Versailles
First monarch to live in Buckingham Palace			Victoria
Founded by William the Conqueror, on the site of an earlier fortress; damaged by fire in 1992; the world's largest inhabited castle, and Europe's longest–occupied royal residence			Windsor Castle
Palace in St. Petersburg, stormed at the climax of the Russian Revolution of 1917; now part of the Hermitage Museum			Winter Palace
Principal residence of King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia of Spain, since their marriage in 1962 – built by Philip IV in the 17th century – part of the Palace of El Pardo (on the outskirts of Madrid)			Zarzuela Palace

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Palaces and Royal Houses