- The royal family owns private residential houses as well as castles and palaces across the UK.
- They also own famous landmarks like the Savoy Hotel and the Ascot
- Racecourse.
- Many of them have been in the royal family for hundreds of years.
Queen Elizabeth isn't just a monarch — she's a real estate mogul, too.
The royal family owns property across the UK valued at an estimated
$18 billion. The queen receives 25% of the the Crown Estate's revenues
to spend on maintaining her properties as well as her official work.
From palaces to private homes, here are 11 properties that the royal
family calls their own.
Buckingham Palace — London, England
Buckingham Palace is the administrative headquarters of the ruling
monarch— in other words, the queen's office.
Buckingham Palace has 775 rooms total, including
19 State rooms, 52 bedrooms, 188 staff bedrooms,
92 offices, and 78 bathrooms.
It opens to the public for tours every summer as well as for a limited
time during December, January, and Easter.
Click here to see more of Buckingham Palace's lavish Christmas
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Sandringham House — Norfolk, England
Queen Elizabeth inherited Sandringham House from her father in
1952. It's a private residence on an 8,000 hectare-estate owned by the
royal family.
Sandringham House is where the royal family celebrates Christmas together.
Meghan Markle attended the festivities while she and Prince Harry
were engaged, which was an exception to the royal protocol of only
allowing spouses at Christmas.
Click here to see how the royal family spends Christmas every year.
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Windsor Castle — Windsor, England
Windsor Castle is the queen's weekend getaway residence — though
she also holds Easter Court there during March and April every year.
It is the largest occupied castle in the world, according to the royal
family's official website.
St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle has hosted
various royal weddings over the years, including
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's recent nuptials.
When it's not being used for an invitation-only event, many parts of
the castle are open to the public.
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Clarence House — London, England
Clarence House was built between 1825 and 1827 for Prince William
Henry, Duke of Clarence.
Today, Clarence House is the official residence of
Prince Charles and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall.
Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip also lived there when they first
got married in 1947. Tours are available in August every year.
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St James's Palace — London, England
The palace was built between 1531 and 1536 by Henry VIII.
St. James's Palace hosts up to 100 charity receptions
every year for various organizations that the royal family
supports.
It can also be used for family occasions like Prince George's christening
in 2013.
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The Palace of Holyroodhouse — Edinburgh, Scotland
The Palace of Holyroodhouse, also known as Holyrood Palace, began as a monastery in 1128.
Holyroodhouse is now the queen's official residence in Scotland.
It's open to the public year-round, and is the center of Holyrood Week, an annual string of royal engagements celebrating Scottish history and culture from the end of June to the beginning of July.
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Kensington Palace — London, England
William III bought Kensington Palace in 1689 from the Earl of
Nottingham, who was also his Secretary of State.
Kensington Palace is home to Prince William and
Kate Middleton and their three kids, who live in
Apartment 1A, and Prince Harry and Meghan
Markle, who live in Nottingham Cottage.
They've been known to sneak out of the palace in helicopters that
land in Hyde Park.
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The Duchy of Lancaster — UK
The Duchy of Lancaster is a large estate privately owned by the queen,
and meant to provide a source of independent income, separate from
the Crown Estate.
The rural part of the estate consists of 18,433 hectares
of land (for scale, one hectare is 107,639 square feet)
spread across Lancashire, Yorkshire, Cheshire,
Staffordshire, and Lincolnshire.
It includes historic castles as well as commercial, residential, and
agricultural properties.
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The Savoy Estate, Duchy of Lancaster —
London, England
The Duchy of Lancaster estate also includes commercial property in
the Savoy precinct in London.
The Duchy of Lancaster includes the Savoy Estate, which is home to the famous Savoy Hotel in London.
The Savoy Hotel contains The American Bar, which was voted the best bar in the world.
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Balmoral Castle — Aberdeenshire, Scotland
Balmoral Castle is the royal family's vacation home in Scotland.
Prince Albert bought it for Queen Victoria in 1852, then decided
to demolish it and build a
new larger one on the grounds in 1856.
The 50,000-acre estate features 150 buildings in total.
In the documentary "Our Queen At Ninety," Princess
Eugenie called Balmoral Castle "the most beautiful
place on Earth."
"I think granny is the most happy there," Princess Eugenie said.
The castle grounds are open to the public from the end of March until
the end of July.
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Ascot Racecourse — Berkshire, England
Queen Anne founded the Ascot Racecourse in 1711. Queen Elizabeth oversaw two years of renovations to the course, during which it closed, before reopening it in 2006.
The queen is particularly fond of horses and
horseracing — her own steeds have won at the
Royal Ascot before.
She attends the week-long Royal Ascot races every June along with
300,000 members of the public.
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