While the Stockholm Palace is the official state residence, the Drottningholm Palace is the private residence of the Swedish royal family, located in Drottningholm. Built on the island Lovön in the 16th century, it served as the regular summer residence for the royal court for most of the 18th century. It is also a popular tourist attraction.
The palace has gone through numerous renovations, and now include a church, completed in 1746, a theater where the Royal Swedish Opera has performed, and a Chinese pavilion built during the years 1763-1770. It also has a garden, which includes both an extensive manicured baroque garden, and a more natural, English garden with ponds, canals, bridges, large lawns and hundreds of trees.
The Palace of Holyroodhouse
It sounds like something just outside of Los Angeles, but The Palace of Holyroodhouse got its start in Edinburgh all the way back in 1128 as an Augustinian Monastery and is named after an antiquated name for the Cross of Jesus, the Rood. This Scottish palace has been an official royal residence since the 16th century, hosting various members of the royal family when they make trips to the region.
The palace is open to the public year-round but will close to serve the royal family if a visit is necessary. Queen Elizabeth II used to spend one week a year at Holyroodhouse (known as Holyrood week), throwing a lavish garden party, sometimes boasting up to eight thousand Scottish guests from all walks of life.
Sandringham Palace
Sprawling over twenty thousand acres of land, Sandringham House held a special place in Queen Elizabeth’s heart. It came to her from her father, King George VI, who inherited it from his father, King George V. King George V said of the home: “Dear old Sandringham, the place I love better than anywhere else in the world.”
In 1957, on the 25th anniversary of her grandfather’s famous radio Christmas message, Queen Elizabeth gave her very first televised Christmas message from Sandringham, saying “I wish you all, young and old, wherever you may be, all the fun and enjoyment and the peace of a very happy Christmas.” The house includes six hundred acres of gardens, is worth sixty-five million dollars, and is open to the public year-round.
Heckfield Place
A babymoon is a romantic getaway for parents who are preparing for a new child, usually their first. The couple relishes a few last moments as two, and get themselves ready for life’s greatest challenge. When Prince Harry and pregnant wife Meghan disappeared, they were actually only forty-five minutes from home at a five-star hotel called Heckfield Place.
They stayed for only three nights in the suite known as the Long Room, costing $13,000 a night. This “simple” suite comes equipped with a chandelier-decked bathroom, an English Oak kitchen, and a private outdoor terrace, perfect for enjoying breakfast in the sunrise.
Gråsten Palace
Legend says that Gråsten Palace is where Hans Christian Anderson wrote The Little Match Girl, but the rumor is false. However, it is true that it is the summer residence of the Danish Royal Family, located in Gråsten in the Jutland region of southern Denmark.
The main house has a modern, white façade, with Venetian doors opening onto sweeping, well-kept lawns and gravel walkways – the grounds also include a huge stables court. The Royal Family took over the palace and extensively restored it in 1935. The late Queen Ingrid, prior to her death in 2000, adored the palace, and it is the usual venue for the royal family's official summer photoshoot.