Inside lavish royal childhood homes – Queen’s townhouse bombed in war to £15m mansion with musical toilet roll holder
WE'VE all dreamed of living the royal life with sprawling mansions fit for a king.
But for these members of the Royal Family, this was very much a reality as they were all raised in incredible stately homes worth millions.
The Crown Estate presides over properties worth around £14.1billion.
From the childhood home of the late Queen Elizabeth II to Prince George and his siblings' 10-bedroom country mansion, these properties offer space and grandeur most of us could only dream of.
Here, we take a look at where some of the most senior members of the Royal Family grew up.
Kensington Palace Apartments
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Former Prince Charles and the late Princess Diana resided in apartments 8 and 9 at Kensington Palace in the early days of their marriage.
There they raised their two boys, Princes William and Harry. The apartments spanned three floors with an entire level dedicated to the young princes.
Diana is known to have transformed the interior into a remarkable living space with the help of designer Dudley Park.
On the top floor there were two bedrooms and a playroom, which had a strawberry print carpet, sofas, and children's rocking horses.
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Diana's love for bold patterns was visible in the floral wallpapers, pink sofas, and colourful cushions, while family photos cluttered the surfaces.
The drawing room, where they held official meetings, was less elaborately decorated, with a pale yellow wall and a large historical painting.
145 Piccadilly
Princess Elizabeth, as she was then, was raised with her sister Princess Margaret at their parent's townhouse, 145 Piccadilly, in London.
The young royal was treated to an impressive view of Green Park and the property's incredibly detailed interior.
According to reports, the house was decorated with a massive gramophone, an abundance of books and a large glass cabinet which had miniature animals at the princess' pleasure.
In her book Princess: The Early Life of Queen Elizabeth II, Jane Dismore wrote that it featured a huge garden with a bench surrounded by trees.
The sisters had their own exclusive day and night nurseries on the top floor which had red carpets and fireplaces.
When Elizabeth's father George became King in 1936, the family moved to Buckingham Palace.
Shortly afterwards in 1940, their former home was flattened by a bomb during the Second World War.
The property is now the site of a luxurious hotel, InterContinental London Park Lane.
Sunninghill Park
Prince Andrew and his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson lived at Sunninghill Park in Berkshire when daughters Beatrice and Eugenie were young.
The house was built in the early 19th century and bought by the Crown Estate in 1945 to serve as the matrimonial home of the Queen and Prince Philip, but it burned down shortly before their wedding, so they rented Windlesham Moor.
In 1987 it was reconstructed and became the home of the Duke and Duchess of York.
The mansion - which was likened to a Tesco supermarket due to its vast size and design - had six reception rooms, 12 bedrooms, and 12 bathrooms and was said to have a swimming pool, tennis court, and toilet roll holder that sang God Save the Queen.
Following the Yorks' divorce in 1996 and the death of the Queen Mother in 2002, Andrew moved into Royal Lodge in Windsor.
Eugenie, Beatrice, and their mother remained at Sunninghill Park until 2007, when it was bought for £15million by Timur Kulibayev, the son-in-law of former Kazakh dictator Nursultan Nazarbayev, who demolished it.
Clarence House
Before Queen Elizabeth II acceded the throne in 1952, she lived in Clarence House with Philip and Charles from 1947.
The house - on The Mall in Westminster - boasts a magnificent morning room where the couple entertained guests, a garden room, and a splendid dining room.
The living room featured furniture with bold prints and a huge chandelier, fireplace and a large window.
Much of the Queen's antique collections and paintings are still in the property including a portrait of the Queen Mother and a centuries-old table.
In August a picture taken in the garden of Clarence House showing The Queen, Prince Philip, a young King Charles and Princess Anne was released.
Charles returned to live in Clarence House following his marriage to Camilla in 2003 - it has been reported that renovations for the couple cost £4.5million.
Anmer Hall
Prince George, nine, Princess Charlotte, seven, and Prince Louis, four, share a 10-bedroom countryside home with their parents, Prince William and Kate Middleton.
Anmer Hall is on the Sandringham Estate and was gifted to the couple by Her Majesty after their wedding in 2011.
Before moving in, the property was refurbished to the tune of £1.5million with new additions including a conservatory, a rerouted driveway and a new interior put together by designer Ben Pentreath.
We've previously been given brief glimpses of the home in videos and video calls - especially during the pandemic.
According to The Week, the interior of the home has purposefully been "kept very private" but has contemporary interiors to match Kate's "accessible style choices".
The Cambridge's 2020 Christmas card was taken at the garden of Anmer Hall and showed them sitting in front of countless piles of logs.
In a video to celebrate the Cambridge's 10 year wedding anniversary, the family were seen playing in the huge garden, which has a swing for the kids.
Gatcombe Park
Gatcombe Park in Gloucestershire is the home of Princess Anne, after Queen Elizabeth bought it for her and Mark Philips, her first husband.
Their daughter Zara Tindall and her husband Mike moved into the property with their three children, Mia, Lena, and Lucas, in 2013 after selling their home in Cheltenham.
Reports indicate that the main house at the Gatcombe estate has five primary bedrooms, four other bedrooms, four reception rooms, a library, a billiard room and a conservatory.
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There are several other homes on the 700-acre estate, which also has stables for equestrian Zara's many horses.
The Tindall home comes equipped with its own personal gym, according to Mike.