Royal Apartment

Mixed info on that one - surprise, surprise.  To quote HM's official website.....

The Duke and Duchess live at Wren House, Kensington Palace, and in Oxfordshire.

As you mentioned, the newspapers have reported that the Duchess maintains her own apartment nearby - although such stories usually cite that apartment as being "where she gives music lessons" rather than where she lives.  Who knows for sure?

Hmm, indeed..... :-/

I found this article (dated back in 2003) which quotes Lord Snowdon about the apartment he shared with Princess Margaret at Kensington Palace.  Interesting stuff...

 
Earl of Snowdon denies palace extravagance
By Caroline Davies
(Filed: 26/02/2003)

The Earl of Snowdon yesterday denied claims in Government records that Princess Margaret demanded extravagant public sums should be spent on lavish refurbishment of their Kensington Palace apartment.



He said apartment 1A, into which they moved in 1960, was "bombed, falling down, empty and totally uninhabitable" when they were offered it after their marriage.

Lord Snowdon said that the building was in such a bad state that he requested that the Ministry of Works, responsible for the upkeep of the occupied Royal Palaces, invite the media in to see what work was required. But Lord John Hope, then Minister of Works in Harold Macmillan's Conservative government, refused.

Lord Snowdon, 72, married to Princess Margaret for 18 years and the father of Viscount Linley and Lady Sarah Chatto, was stung by documents released this week after 40 years by the Public Record Office.

The documents claimed the refurbishment cost the equivalent of £1 million, with one third spent on special marble floors and a fitted kitchen. They stated that, under pressure to cut costs, Princess Margaret telephoned the Queen and Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother for help and the Queen Mother donated cupboards.

But yesterday Lord Snowdon said: "It is so unfair. It's time things were put right. The whole point about the building was that it had suffered extensive damage during the war from an incendiary bomb. It had a direct hit and after that it remained empty.

"The Government did not want this pointed out. It was much much easier for them to blame it on Princess Margaret. There was the house, bombed, falling down, empty, totally uninhabitable. That's why I wanted the press to see what a state it was in. Luckily, I have still got a few, rather bad, snaps which show what condition it was in. You could see right from the first floor down into the basement. It had to be gutted. What they have tried to make out in that release is that Princess Margaret refurbished it at a huge expense. I remember vividly that she and I made all the doors together. She did the veneering and we did them in the workshop. That didn't cost much.

"It was the Ministry of Works that wanted marble floors. We didn't want them on grounds of cost. We used stone flags and cut them.

"I then got slate, and that didn't cost anything because I got it from Wales from a slate quarry which happened to be owned by my godfather, so I got those free. The house was not that large. They said it was 20 rooms, plus staff quarters. In fact we had a dining room, drawing room, my study and a big garden room downstairs. Then upstairs there was Princess Margaret's bedroom, a bathroom, a couple of rooms for the children, my dressing room and a spare room.

"They were big rooms, but 20 rooms is off the mark."

He added: "The Ministry of Works always wanted to have the most expensive things, just because it was a palace."

He said the house was refurbished from a model he made. "The kitchen was in fact very simple," he said.

"It's 40 years ago, and I can't remember how much the kitchen cost," he said. "We did re-use some cupboards upstairs, but I can't remember the Queen Mother donating a cupboard. I think it terribly unlikely."

Buckingham Palace announced recently that Princess Margaret's apartment will be opened to the public as an education centre and extra exhibition space for the royal ceremonial dress collection.

That is really interesting information Chris.

The recent programme just shown on Channel 4, 'The Queen's Sister', a dramatised account of Pcss Margaret's life, showed a scene in which the refurbishment of the apartment was discussed.

The drama reinforced the notion that it was Margaret's extravagance that caused the cost of the refurbishment and hinted that she believed the huge post-war expense to be her due......

Interesting to hear some of the true facts about this matter - thank you.

The Queen's reception room, Buckingham, basically it is part of the private app. for it is  near her bedroom.

Her She receives the Prime Minister and other VIPs.

It is a shame that we can't see the windows of this room, as in this view it has a slightly cheerless aspect, though undeniably elegant......I am sure that the windows, their dressing and the view from them make all the difference.

I looked up who else lives in the royal palaces - aside from the royal family themselves.  According to the Government.....

Dr. Howells [holding answer 1 November 2001]: The list of persons who occupy residences in the Occupied Royal Palaces other than members of the Royal Family at 31 December 2000 is as follows:

(i) Private Secretaries and Officials in the Queen's Household: 33
(ii) Private Secretaries and Officials in other Households: 6
(iii) Domestic staff in the Queen's Household: 29
(iv) Domestic Staff in other Households: 11
(v) Stables staff looking after the Civil List carriages and carriage horses: 19
(vi) The Queen's private staff and staff who work on the Royal Farms at Windsor: 9
(vii) Chauffeurs in the Queen's Household: 4
(viii) Chauffeurs in other Households: 4
(ix) Staff in the Queen's Household responsible for the maintenance of the Occupied Palaces Estate (including the Director of Property Services): 18
(x) Gardeners in the Queen's Household: 4
(xi) Gatekeepers and security staff: 6
(xii) Firepatrolmen in the Queen's Household: 4
(xiii) Craftsmen and porters in the Queen's Household: 19
(xiv) Royal Collection staff: 4
(xv) Crown Estate gardeners: 2
(xvi) Military Knights at Windsor Castle (Pensioners): 13
(xvii) Pensioners: 43
(xviii) Commercial: 16

Total: 244.

Princess Diana used to live in the so called apartments 8 and 9 of Kensington.
While the app. 10 should have been Margaret's one.

wonderful pics of the exterior of the Walses' apartments Gleb, thank you!  

I have the official guidebook to Kensington Palace, which contains photos of a very grand staircase in an apartment identified as "The Granville" I believe because it was once occupied by the Dowager Countess Granville.  The guidebook says this was a "very fine, self-contained house" located on the north side of the palace's Prince of Wales Court.

At first, I assumed that this "house" was in fact Diana and Charles' home at Kensington (ie. Apt. 8 and 9).  However, I read elsewhere that the Waleses' home was located on The Princesss' Court, which is basically "next door" to the Prince's of Wales Court.

Your pictures seem to confirm this - as the one showing Charles' welcoming guests at the front door do show a larger adjoining "house" to the west in the background.  

So - does anyone know who occupies the former Granville Apartment?  It isn't the Kents (they live in Wren House), so perhaps it is the Glouchesters?

I read that the part of the palace on the left of this pic housed Princess Margaret's app.
Her app. should end with the Queen's staircase.

This plan was posted by Brian in an other thread, as always he is very generous.
I wrote the numbers inside.

So, Chris, do you think n2 is the Princess' court and n1 the Prince's of Wales court?

I also think that the Wren house is the long building in the south wing.

Yes, according to my guidebook, N1 in the Prince of Wales' Court, and N2 is the Princess' Court.

Now, based on the floor plan, and the number of windows shown in the picture, it appears clear that the Walses apartment is, in fact, labeled "4" in the center of the north range.  However, to the left (labeled "3") wasn't Margaret's home.  It is most likely the apartment that was joined together with Waleses' home - it contained their offices and staff.  

Also, I now don't think the Waleses home is ALSO the Garnville Apartment.  I think the confusion arose because of unclear wording in the guidebook.  It said that the Granville was "on the north side of the PoW Court", but when I look at the floor plan, I think they MEANT in the northwest corner (5).  The plan of the staircase in that corner apartment matches the photograph of the stairs in the book that I have.

Regarding Margaret's apartment - it was on the south side of Clock Court, incorporating the Stone Gallery Range.  This is the range labeled (S), extending westward from the King's Staircase and continuing around the corner southward.  This range originally housed the rooms of senior household officials, and later the Kensington Palace Lady Housekeeper.  It was then rennovated for the Duke of Sussex (his multi room library is the series of 3 narrow halls overlooking the Clock Court).  This apartment was then occupied by Princess Louise.  After she left, the apartment sat empty until it was given to Margaret and Lord Snowdon.  

From what I've read, Wren House is detached from the rest of the palace.  What isn't visible in this plan, but is visible on the plans in my guidebook, is that just north of palace (just off the plan to the right) are a series of ancillary buildings that once housed stables, soldier's quarters, and staff, and I think Wren House is among those buildings.