Take a virtual tour of Clarence House
Take a virtual tour of Clarence House
-
1/12 Clarence House
Prince Charles had the house updated to his tastes in 2002, finally moving in in 2003. While the style may have altered a little, almost all of its previous resident The Queen Mother's furniture has been accommodated in the house.
It's thought some of the furniture needed restoration when Prince Charles moved into Clarence House, after years of wear and tear - and the attentions of the Queen Mother's corgis who used to live there.
Royal Collection Trust/PA Wire
-
2/12 Clarence House
Hanging on the wall in the Garden Room at Clarence House is The Massacre of the Mamelukes tapestry, presented to Queen Victoria by Emperor Napoleon III.
Google Arts & Culture
-
3/12 Clarence House
The Queen Mother added greatly to the art work in the house, including the only French Impressionist piece in the Royal Collection: it is a piece by Monet of the French countryside, but Elizabeth bought it as it reminded her of the rugged Scottish Highlands.
Google Arts & Culture
-
4/12 Clarence House
The dining room has paintings by John Piper, who had been requested to paint Windsor Castle during the war, for fear it would be damaged.
There's a portrait over the fireplace, supposedly of The Duchess of York in 1940, though it looks nothing like her. It's thought the artist, Augustus John, was so nervous he couldn't look his subject in the eye. Years later, in 1961, The Queen Mother was presented with the portrait and loved it.
Google Arts & Culture
-
5/12 Clarence House
There are two bookcases in the library. The Queen Mother's collection of books are on the left, and George VI's collection is on the right.
Google Arts & Culture
-
6/12 Clarence House
The Thomas Chippendale giltwood sofa in the Morning Room is part of a suite of seat furniture by the famous designer. Dating from about 1773, it may have been commissioned by George III’s brother, the Duke of Gloucester.
Back right: a portrait of a sleeping George Bernard Shaw.
Google Arts & Culture
-
7/12 Clarence House
There are family portraits found throughout the house, including informal images sent to The Queen Mother as gifts.
Google Arts & Culture
-
8/12 Clarence House
The red wallpapered Horse Corridor, so-called because the walls are adorned with images of horses and the sides with ornaments, leads through to the Garden Room, sometimes called the Cornwall Room. A lift is tucked just behind the passage.
Google Arts & Culture
-
9/12 Clarence House
It was also the home of The Queen, then Princess Elizabeth, and The Duke of Edinburgh following their marriage in 1947.
Chris Jackson/PA Wire
-
10/12
After their marriage, Princess Elizabeth and The Duke of Edinburgh moved into Clarence House, though it was in need of renovation, including the repair of bomb damage. They lived there until Prince Charles was three years old.
Princess Anne was born at Clarence House in August 1950.
PA Wire
-
11/12
Now the official London residence of The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall, Clarence House's principal rooms are used for receptions and other official entertaining.
Joe Giddens/PA Wire
-
12/12 Dumfries House, Scotland
The virtual tour is also possible at Dumfries House in Scotland, one of Britain's most beautiful stately homes, which Prince Charles campaigned to save after it was threatened with sale and dispersal.
Royal Collection Trust/PA Wire
Once a year during the summer months, royal fans get the opportunity to take a peek inside Clarence House, the official home of Prince Charles and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, while the couple are on summer holiday.
The opulent residence, which sits beside St James's Palace, is often described as one of London's last great remaining houses and features some of the most important artworks from the royal collection.
The coveted annual tours of Clarence House offer visitors a glimpse of its five ground-floor rooms and the hundreds of historical objects and personal photographs on display.
Yet essential works planned for 2019 mean Clarence House will be closed to the public until the summer of 2020.
Avid royal fans can now get their Prince Charles fix year round, however, thanks to search giant Google, which is offering the chance to take a peek inside the prince's official residence without even having to leave home.
To mark the Prince of Wales's seventieth birthday, the site's Arts & Culture section is hosting 360-degree photographs offering a seamless virtual tour of Clarence House with a zoom option so powerful art fans can get a close-up view of the brush strokes on some paintings.
Charles learned about Google Arts and Culture after visiting the tech company's London office in May, and shortly afterwards his household began working with the search engine.
Speaking about the prince's London home Suhair Khan, head of Google UK's Arts & Culture department, said: "This is a journey through Clarence House and the personal collection of His Royal Highness and the royal family."
"Now using 360-degree imagery anyone can stroll down the halls, explore the art collection, go from one room to another and really come up close with a lot of the artworks."
Clarence House was the residence of Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother from 1953 until 2002 and it was also the home of the Queen, then Princess Elizabeth, and the Duke of Edinburgh following their marriage in 1947.
Prince Charles, who lived in the house until the age of three, had the interiors updated by interior designer Robert Kime in 2002 and moved in on the anniversary of the Queen Mother's birth in August 2003.
The house is pretty faithful to its past inhabitant's tastes. Almost all of the Queen Mother's furniture remains in the house with one post-renovation visitor reportedly declaring: "My dear, I don't know what all the fuss is about — I mean, nothing's changed."
The Queen Mother also added greatly to the art work in the house during her time there, with purchases including the only French Impressionist painting in the Royal Collection.
The Monet work depicts the French countryside, but Elizabeth reportedly bought it because it reminded her of the Scottish Highlands.
In the ornate dining room there are paintings by English artist John Piper who was requested to paint Windsor Castle during the Second World War in case of bomb damage. The paintings are dramatic and brooding, depicting dark storm clouds as a backdrop to the pale grey stone of the Castle.
Upon seeing them, George VI famously remarked to the artist: "You seem to have very bad luck with your weather, Mr Piper."
Also in the dining room is a portrait over the fireplace, supposedly of Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, the Duchess of York in 1940, though it looks nothing like her.
It's thought the artist, Augustus John, was so nervous he couldn't look his subject in the eye. Years later, in 1961, the Queen Mother was presented with the portrait and loved it.
The Horse Corridor, so-called because the red walls are covered with paintings of horses, leads through to the Garden Room, sometimes called the Cornwall Room. A lift is tucked just behind the passage.
Some of the furniture itself reportedly needed restoration when Prince Charles moved into Clarence House, after decades of wear and tear — and the attentions of the Queen Mother's corgis who used to live there.
