Clarence House is one of the less-visited of London’s palaces and royal residences and it is also one of its more authentic in the sense that it feels more like a family home than a venue for state banquets and official functions.
This royal residence next door to St James’s Palace was designed by John Nash and built between 1825 and 1827 as the home of King William IV. Clarence House has since been home to members of the royal family including Princess Elizabeth (before she became Queen Elizabeth II) and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh and Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother. It is the current residence of King Charles III and Queen Camilla.
What to see at Clarence House
Clarence House is one of the less-visited of London’s palaces and royal residences and it is also one of its more authentic in the sense that it feels more like a family home than a venue for state banquets and official functions.
Visitors can take a tour that shows you five rooms inside the house that are set up as they would have appeared when the Queen Mother lived here. These include the Lancaster Room, which has served as a waiting room for visitors to Clarence House; the Morning Room, where residents of the house would be served breakfast; the Library; the Dining Room and the Garden Room.
A tour of the house also includes the formal garden area that was laid out according to the Prince of Wales’ design in 2004–2005.
Visiting Clarence House
Clarence House is located in St James adjacent to St James’s Palace and less than a 10-minute walk from Buckingham Palace. The closest tube station is Green Park, which is only a five-minute walk.
Clarence House is fully wheelchair-accessible. Photography is not allowed on the tour.
When tours operated, a regular guided tour cost £11.30 and included the garden plus the five rooms mentioned above. There was occasionally a more expensive (£35) Exclusive Guided Tour that only ran on select days and included a glass of champagne and also let you visit the Cornwall Room, which wasn’t part of the regular tour. The standard tour takes around an hour.
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