King Charles already boasts an impressive collection of residences, stretching from Tamarisk House on the Isles of Scilly to The Castle of Mey in the north of Scotland, and he’s just added a few more to his portfolio.
While many of these official homes are managed by The Crown Estate, some properties like Balmoral Castle and Sandringham House are privately owned, OK! reports.
Over his years as the former Prince of Wales, the King has resided in numerous properties, but one particular home always caught his eye. This coveted residence is situated just a stone’s throw away from Buckingham Palace and Clarence House and has since been repurposed.
The late society diarist Kenneth Rose revealed the King’s longing to call this house his own. A plethora of fascinating tales from various sources and Royal Family members were unveiled in the diaries of the late society columnist, published posthumously.
These entries range from revelations about Charles’ marriage to the late Diana, Princess of Wales, to the extraordinary tale of the late Queen conducting a religious service in a bedroom at Sandringham after staff claimed it was haunted.
Intriguing details have emerged about King Charles’s long-held desire to reside at Marlborough House on The Mall, a request that was declined since the property had been leased to the Commonwealth Secretariat since 1965.
Published excerpts from Rose’s diary in The Daily Mail unveil King Charles’ frustration dating back to 1985: “Prince Charles would love to live in Marlborough House. ‘I grit my teeth with rage whenever I go to some Commonwealth event there. But what can one do? Once the people get inside a building, it is impossible to throw them out’.”
In another entry from his diary, Rose shared an astonishing anecdote from Lady-in-Waiting Prue Penn, disclosing how the late Queen held a religious service in a purportedly haunted room at Sandringham House in Norfolk.
He detailed: “Prue Penn [the Queen Mother’s lady-in-waiting] tells me that at Sandringham in the summer, the Queen invited her to attend a little service in one of its rooms conducted by the local parson. The only other person present was the Queen Mother.
“Some of the servants had complained that the room was haunted and did not want to work in it. The parson walked from room to room and did indeed feel some sort of restlessness in one of them.
“This the Queen Mother identified as a ground-floor room which had been turned into a bedroom for George VI during his last months. So the parson held a service there, not exactly of exorcism, which is the driving out of an evil spirit, but of bringing tranquillity.
“The congregation of three took Holy Communion and special prayers were said, I think for the repose of the King’s soul in the room in which he died. The parson said that the oppressive or disturbing atmosphere may have been because of Princess Diana: he had known such things before when someone died a violent death.”
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