King Charles is the head of the Royal Family and has access to some of the most impressive castles and palaces across the UK. Although he tends to prefer his smaller royal homes such as Clarence House and Highgrove, where he stays often, the monarch does also have access to much larger abodes.
Among these is Hillsborough Castle in Ireland. The castle, which is actually an 18th century Georgian country house, is located in the village of Hillsborough in County Down. While the King and Queen Camilla have stayed there before, they have never actually lived there.
As well as being a home for members of the Royal Family when they visit the country, the property also serves as the official residence of the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland.
Since 2014, the castle and its garden has been run by Historic Royal Palaces, which saw it undergo five-year refurbishment that is believed to have cost around an eye-watering £24 million.
While it is referred to as a castle, the property is in fact just a grand home.
As reported by Historic Royal Palaces, it was very common for Anglo-Irish upper classes to call their grand country houses ‘castles’, which is how Hillsborough developed its name.
Members of the Royal Family tend to stay at Hillsborough when visiting Northern Ireland.
The King and Queen Camilla are currently in Belfast today where they are carrying out a number of royal engagements.
Their Majesties were all smiles as they visited Commercial Court, which was ranked as the most ‘attractive street’ in Northern Ireland, earlier today.
