King Charles resides primarily in Clarence House in London, but he also owns another rarely spoken about property in Richmond-upon-Thames. In a new video, posted to the Historic Royal Palaces Instagram account last week, Hampton Court Palace was seen undergoing a winter clean.
In the video, the palace's Preventive Conservator, Pippa Kemsley, walked viewers through the cleaning process in the Horn Room that is situated next to the Great Hall. The horns and antlers on display were seen being cleaned with brushes made from pony and hog hair, used by people standing on scaffolding.
Winter clean at Hampton Court Palace
The room is where, in years gone by, meals would have been prepared, ready to be taken through to the Great Hall for banquets.
© Getty"Our Preventive Conservation team works hard throughout the year to care for our palaces. At this time of year, you may see our conservators carrying out inspections, conservation cleaning, or applying treatments from large scaffolding in hard-to-reach areas," the video was captioned.
"This is all part of our work to look after the buildings and collections in our care!"
Inside Hampton Court Palace
Hampton Court Palace is owned by the British Crown and managed and maintained by the independent charity Historic Royal Palaces. While no monarch has lived there for centuries (King George II, who reigned from 1727 to 1760, was the last monarch to reside there), the palace remains a historic royal site and is open to the public throughout the year.
It dates all the way back to 1514 when the building process was initiated by Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, Archbishop of York and the chief minister of Henry VIII. It features between 1,400 and 1,600 rooms.
© GettyAs well as the grand rooms and halls, there is also accommodation for the staff who work at the palace. "I moved on-site permanently last March and, while I do live in a palace, my humble lodgings are quite 'studenty' – a lot of my furniture is in storage," Lucy Hutchings, former Head of Hampton Court Palace, told Homes & Antiques in 2024.
King Charles' London residence
Though Buckingham Palace is the monarch's most iconic London property, he and Queen Camilla actually live at Clarence House. The home is located on The Mall in the City of Westminster and is adjacent to St James' Palace.
© Tim Graham Photo Library via Get
© Getty ImagesIt was originally built by John Nash in 1825-27 for King George III's third son, the Duke of Clarence. It features five bedrooms and was formerly the home of The Queen Mother from 1953 until 2002, and was also the home of King Charles' parents, Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, following their wedding in 1947.
