All Of The Stunning Properties King Charles Has Owned Across The Globe

It's not a secret that being part of the British royal family comes with supreme privilege and endless perks, but one of the perks that might seem a bit less obvious is the sheer amount of property the royals own, or even just have access to. No member has quite so many as the reigning monarch, King Charles III. His property portfolio is seemingly endless, with some additions that even ardent royal fans might not know about. Some are gorgeous, but some are known to be low down on the list of royal favorites.

Over the years, Charles has been rather forthright about which properties hold an extra special place in his heart. For example, back in 1993, Elizabeth II's eldest waxed poetic the garden at one of his homes. Per the Express, he said it "really does spring from my heart and, strange as it may seem to some, creating it has been rather like a form of worship." On the flip side, he has reportedly been far less effusive about the royal family's most famous palace. 

We've only scratched the surface. From stunning vacation homes outside of his home country to palaces that have long been part of the family to abodes he's made his own, here's a look at the stunning properties King Charles III has owned over the years.

When King Charles III ascended the throne, he became the owner of the Crown Estate. This portfolio of properties, of course, includes Buckingham Palace. While it's large and grand, it's been an open secret for a long time that many of the current royals are not particularly fond of it — and it's not hard to see why. Between the outdated decor and general dark atmosphere, it's no wonder that it works better as a popular tourist destination than an actual home.

In 2017, a source told The Times that King Charles III had no interest in ever living there. "I know he is no fan of 'the big house', as he calls the palace," the tipster dished. "He doesn't see it as a ­viable future home or a house that's fit for purpose in the modern world. He feels its upkeep, both from a cost and environmental perspective, is not sustainable."

Other well-known British royal residences include Windsor Castle, which has been home to 39 different monarchs since 1090. There's also Holyrood Palace, which has been the British monarch's official Scottish residence for centuries, and St James's Palace, which happens to be adjacent to Charles' longtime primary residence, Clarence House. All of these properties are owned by Charles in right of the crown.

As noted, some properties are owned 'by the monarch in right of the crown — also known as The Crown Estate — as a business rather than a private property, whereas other royal residences are owned by monarchs outright. When Queen Elizabeth II died in 2022 at the age of 96, two estates that she personally owned, Sandringham House and Balmoral Castle, were transferred to her son King Charles III.

Covering 20,000 acres, the Sandringham Estate in Norfolk is well-known as a personal favorite of the late Queen, and is traditionally where the royal family vacation at Christmas. Following his cancer diagnosis, King Charles is also said to have spent a decent amount of time at Sandringham — and it's not hard to see why, considering its picturesque location and famously warm interior. It's easy to compare it to Balmoral Castle, which was famously another of Queen Elizabeth's favorites. "It's the most beautiful place on Earth. I think Granny is the most happy there," Princess Eugenie gushed in the ITV doc "The Queen at 90" (via British Vogue). "It's a lovely base for Granny and Grandpa, for us to come and see them up there; where you just have room to breathe and run." 

King Charles III has always been open about his preference for his family home, Highgrove House & Garden. Through the Duchy of Cornwall, Charles bought it from the family of former Prime Minister Harold Macmillan in 1980. He then renovated the property, which is set in the beautiful Gloucestershire countryside, to his personal tastes the following year.

"Highgrove has always been the scene for any kind of big celebrations to do with birthdays, especially for the King and the Queen. Highgrove is very important to him, it's been his home for 40 years," a former royal butler told Hello! magazine in 2023. "It's his sanctuary, he has got a literal sanctuary in the chapel there too, it's somewhere he escapes to... it's his heaven and the place he likes to be most." When Charles became king and Prince William became the Duke of Cornwall, the current monarch began leasing the property from his son.

Highgrove features solar panels and a natural filtering system in line with his own personal sustainable values, as well as interior design by decorator and antique collector Robert Kime. Highgrove even has a massive iron-clad panic room, should the king and his wife Camilla, Queen Consort, ever need it. But the high point of Highgrove might be its 15 acres of gardens, which boasts a walled vegetable garden, olive trees, a Christmas cake-shaped topiary, and a truly massive 20-foot pergola which was gifted to the king on his 50th birthday. Clearly, it's a special place. As previously noted, he once said the garden "really does spring from my heart." 

Considering King Charles III's wish to make royal residences sustainable and eco-friendly, his former residence in Carmarthenshire was the perfect nod to his dreams of a sustainable future. The future king purchased the home through the Duchy of Cornwall in 2007. Made from existing and locally-sourced materials, the Llwynywermod property was originally built as a model farm and then transformed into its current existence as a set of three cottages and a grade-II listed threshing barn.

Charles was set on making the space kinder to environment while trying to stay true to its original look. As he wrote in a 2008 issue of Home & Garden, "Why does being green mean building with glass and steel and concrete and then adding wind turbines, solar panels and waterheaters, sedum rooves, glass atria — all the paraphernalia of a new 'green building industry' — to offset buildings that are inefficient in the first place?" Llywynywermod, on the flip side, has a more rustic style, fitting with its rural Welsh location. 

The property features a wood-chip boiler to provide heating and hot water, a reed-bed filtration system, and rainwater storage. The interiors also feature Welsh-made furniture and other furnishings, and stands a real love letter from the king to Wales. Alas, after the eco-minded king took the throne — and Prince William became the Duchy of Cornwall — Charles gave up his beloved Welsh home. 

The official London residence of many of the royals, Kensington Palace has existed in some form since its Jacobean origins, and was the childhood home of the long-reigning Queen Victoria. Located in the royal borough of Kensington and Chelsea, and serves as both a residence and an open tourist attraction.

Current residents of Kensington Palace include: William, Prince of Wales and Catherine, Princess of Wales; Princess Eugenie and her husband; the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester; the Duke and Duchess of Kent; and Prince and Princess Michael of Kent. Kensington Palace's unoccupied state rooms are owned and operated by the Historic Royal Palaces charity, who also operate the Tower of London and Hampton Court Palace. The residential areas of Kensington Palace are owned "by King Charles III on behalf of the nation," according to Historic Royal Palaces — so like many royal properties it sits in rather a gray area of ownership.

Featuring the famous Sunken Garden — which was a favorite of Diana, Princess of Wales — as well as several residential suites, Kensington Palace is exactly how it sounds; opulent and palatial, and a long-time beloved home of many of the current and former royals.

As if the different sections of property ownership weren't confusing enough, there are several properties owned by the King's Foundation, which is King Charles III's charity created to promote and build sustainable communities and preserve traditional craft, farming, and architectural skills. The king's personal residence at Highgrove is part of the King's Foundation, but there are two more: Dumfries House and the Castle of Mey.

Dumfries House, located in Ayrshire, is an 18th-century estate set on 2,000 acres of land. Its main feature is its original 18th-century Chippendale-designed furniture, and is protected by Historic Environment Scotland as a category-A listed building. Originally built by Scottish architects John and Robert Adam, Dumfries House sits as a particularly well-preserved example of its time period — even as a massive expansion is planned for the property.

Also located in Scotland is the Castle of Mey, a 16th-century castle which was purchased in 1952 by King Charles' grandmother, Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, and heavily restored for her to use as a vacation home. Part of the restoration included providing the Castle with electricity, as well as general updates to bring it into the 19th century. The Castle of Mey also boasts a 10-bedroom bed and breakfast on its grounds, which was opened by King Charles in 2019. Unsurprisingly, the ever-eco-friendly King had it built from existing stables on the property, as well as supplying it with a sustainable heating system.

Since 1337, the Duchy of Cornwall has belonged to the oldest son of the reigning monarch. During King Charles III's time as the Prince of Wales, naturally this duchy fell to him. However, since taking the throne, this was transferred to his older son, William, Prince of Wales. While it has been tax-exempt since its creation, from 1993 on, Charles chose to pay the tax voluntarily. This is something which his son William has continued to do, although he chooses not to reveal how much he pays.

Comprising approximately 135,000 acres of land, despite its name the Duchy of Cornwall does not sit solely in the Cornish county itself. Almost half of its land actually sits on Dartmoor in neighboring Devon, with some land in Somerset, some in the Isles of Scilly, and other land elsewhere throughout the UK.

But the real crown jewel of the Duchy of Cornwall is the Duchy of Cornwall Nursery, which is made up of several self-catering vacation cottages across the collected Duchy of Cornwall land. Perfect for a vacation, the vacation cottages can be booked for a gentle stay with a countryside feel.

King Charles III's dedication to his wife Camilla, Queen Consort, is well known and oft-debated, but he's even shown his love for her through the purchasing of property. In 1996, the then-Camilla Parker-Bowles bought Ray Mill House in Wiltshire for £850,000 ($1.14 million) after her divorce from Andrew Parker-Bowles. Nestled in the village of Lacock, the property (pictured above) has been her personal retreat for many years, and now mostly serves as a place for spending time with her family.

In a sweet move, in early 2025 King Charles reportedly bought the property next to Ray Mill House in order to prevent it from being converted into a wedding venue. According to the Daily Mail, the previous owner of the house was apparently unpopular with Lacock village residents, due to his plans to use a converted section of the house for Airbnb properties. As a source told the outlet, "The new arrangement is a pragmatic solution, being both a sound financial investment and a way of maintaining Her Majesty's privacy, protection and continued enjoyment of her much-loved home, without any public funds being used." Ray Mill House and King Charles' neighboring property sit on 27 acres of land, and have been partially renovated over the years by Queen Camilla for her own personal use.

While many of King Charles III's current and former properties are vacation homes, there are arguably none quite so interesting as his vacation properties in Romania. He purchased one in Viscri in 2006, and another in Zalanpatak in 2010. Reflecting on what he loves about spending time Romania, the royal told The Spectator in 2022, "There is a sense of age-old continuity here. A virtuous circle where man and nature are in balance." If you'd like to spend an extensive amount of time checking out the king's Romanian properties, you're in luck: You can book stays at Charles' spots in the Zalan Valley and Viscri.

Charles' Zalan property includes restored, well-appointed cottages, stunning grounds, and a pool. Activities for guests include nature walks, horse and cart rides, chef-prepared meals, and potential European brown bear sightings. In Viscri, there's the Blue House, a traditional Saxon farmhouse that is part of King Charles' efforts to preserve the traditional Romanian architecture of the area.

If you had as many properties as King Charles III, it seems obvious there would be at least one you'd never spent any meaningful stretch of time in. Such is the case for Hillsborough Castle, the official British royal residence in Northern Ireland, which is open to the public and currently managed by the Historic Royal Palaces charity.

Located in the northwest region of County Down, despite its name Hillsborough isn't a castle so much as it's a Georgian country house. It was originally built in the 18th century, and was owned by the Hill family until they sold it to the British government in 1922. Boasting interiors set to King Charles' personal tastes and standards, it seems wild that he apparently barely visits.

Hillsborough also serves as the residence for the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, and underwent a $32.3 million refurbishment in 2014 to bring the interiors up to the same standard as Hillsborough's beautiful 100 acres of gardens. Per the BBC, Charles said of the renovation in 2019, "[The] investment in the project has been vast and the transformation quite extraordinary." He went on to add, "I hope Hillsborough Castle and gardens can now well and truly be placed on the map and serve as both a destination and indeed an inspiration for all on the island of Ireland to enjoy."

Another property owned by the Duchy of Cornwall is Dolphin House. This property is located on Tresco, an island of the Isles of Scilly, just 28 miles off the Cornish Coast, also known as the "Cornish Caribbean" due to its beautiful clear water and pristine beaches. Dolphin House was one of King Charles III's favorite vacation spots when he was still the Duke of Cornwall; it is also a favorite of both William, Prince of Wales and Catherine, Princess of Wales, for vacations with their three children, where they like to live like locals and go dolphin spotting.

The stunning property can be rented by any determined vacationer for the right price. In 2024, Homes & Gardens reported it was available for $3,600 a week — not exactly a steal. That said, it does include access to picturesque and private tropical gardens, access to the Tresco Abbey Garden, Sea Garden, Tresco Island Space and its adjoining golf and tennis courts. What's more, the entire island is car-free and an area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

King Charles famously vacationed in Tresco in 1989 with his young sons William and Prince Harry, as well as his first wife Diana, Princess of Wales. All these years later, the family-run island looks gorgeous as ever.