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Royal palaces: the grandest ones outside Britain
Fit for a king
Palaces around the world epitomise their countries’ varied architectural styles. Arabella Youens is enchanted
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FROM the striking mustard-yellow walls of the Palácio da Pena in Portugal to the sacred stepped walls of the Potala Palace in Tibet, royal palaces around the world are masterpieces of a country’s built heritage. But there’s something altogether especially captivating about those residences that have withstood the test of time to remain homes or governing spaces for working members of royal families and their households even today. Those presented here are among the most splendid and bustling of all.
Grand Palace, Bangkok, Thailand
More than a palace, this is a complex in the heart of Bangkok that has been the official residence of the kings of Siam since 1782. Work on it began when the capital city was moved across the Chao Phraya river from Thonburi to Bangkok after the execution of late-18th-century King Taksin, a brilliant strategist who had become mentally unstable, and the accession to the throne of Rama I, Taksin’s former military commander, who founded the current dynasty. Other buildings were added throughout successive reigns until the palace reached more than two million square feet in size, covering 233 acres of grounds.
Home of the king, his court and the government until 1925, today, it is used for official events and state functions. It’s partially open
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to the public—visitors are allowed into the grounds and some buildings—and is one of the most popular tourist attractions in Thailand, as well as a pilgrimage destination for devout Buddhists. One of the most spec-
tacular elements is the Chapel of the Emerald Buddha, a gilded structure decorated with glass mosaics. It houses a medieval meditating Buddha, carved from a block of green jasper and swathed in gold—its costumes are changed three times a year to reflect the seasons.
Perhaps the palace’s most unusual building is the Chakri Maha Prasat, completed in 1882 after a plan by Singapore-based British architect John Clunish. It reflects a blend of Italian Renaissance and traditional Thai architecture.
Alamy; Getty; 2012 ExtremeClarity.Net; Peter Engmalm
Palacio Real, Madrid, Spain
The Royal Palace of Madrid is the largest functioning royal palace in Europe. It was first occupied by Carlos III in 1764, with the last monarch to live there being Alfonso XIII. Today, it’s only used for state ceremonies: the present king, Felipe VI, and the royal family live in the Palace of Zarzuela on the outskirts of the city.
The palace is home to the world’s only complete Stradivarius string quintet
Long before Felipe II moved his court to Madrid in 1561, Emir Mohamed I chose this as the site for a fortress to protect nearby Toledo from the advancing Christians; the alcázar burnt down in 1734. To replace it, Felipe V ordered a new palace to be built after a design by Italian architect Filippo Juvarra, who was, in turn, inspired by the sculptor Gian Lorenzo Bernini. Felipe’s son, Carlos III, who was dubbed the ‘Mayor of Madrid’ for all the work he undertook in the city, then moved in.
With more than 3,000 rooms, including a Royal Chemist’s and the magnificently
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preserved Royal Kitchen, the interiors of the palace are home to paintings by Caravaggio, Goya and Velázquez, as well as frescos by Tiepolo and the world’s only complete Stradivarius string quintet. The Palacio Real is open every day, except for some public holidays.
Castle of Laeken, near Brussels, Belgium
Set in a private park, the neo-Classical Castle of Laeken is the official home of the King and Queen of the Belgians, but was built in 1782–84 for the Archduchess Maria Christina of Austria and her husband, Albrecht of Saxony-Teschen, with gardens to a design by Capability Brown. The Archdukes left after the French Revolution and, after a spell in Napoleonic hands, the castle was assigned to the Kingdom of the Netherlands, during which time it acquired a theatre. In 1831, Leopold I of the Belgians moved in and his son, Leopold II, later had a complex of conservatories built. Each spring, the Greenhouses of Laeken, where plants from Leopold II’s original collection still grow, are opened to the public for three weeks.
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Palais du Prince, Monaco
The official residence of the prince of Monaco was built in the early 13th century as a Genoese fortress on top of the Rock, the principality’s oldest district. Since the end of the 13th century, it has been the home of the Grimaldi family, who ruled first as feudal lords, then, from the 17th century, as sovereign princes.
Unlike other European royal families, the Grimaldis had nowhere else to live, resulting in their continuous use of the palace for more than seven centuries—they celebrated their 700th anniversary in 1997. As a result of the often fragile agreements made by the Monaco princes with their larger and more powerful neighbours, the palace needed to be fortified and today is a blend of styles ranging from the original medieval fortifications via the Renaissance to the Napoleonic period.
One of the highlights is the York Room, named after George III’s brother, who died in Monaco in 1767. It features frescos of the four seasons by Gregorio de Ferrari. The palace is open to visitors from May to October.
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Al-Sakhir, near Zallaq, Bahrain
Set in the Sakhir desert, the palace was built at the dawn of the 20th century in traditional Islamic fashion, featuring arches and columns, as well as a minaret that towers above the building, all painted a crisp white.
In 1925, the then ruler of Bahrain, Sheikh Hamad, moved in and reportedly came to the UK to buy furniture and plumbing fixtures for the palace. After his death in 1942,
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The ruler of Bahrain came to the UK to buy plumbing fixtures
Al-Sakhir was abandoned and remained locked until the mid 1990s, when a considerable restoration project was undertaken. Today, Al-Sakhir is used for ceremonies and to play host to visiting politicians.
Royal Palace, Rabat, Morocco
Known as the Dar al-Makhzen Palace— or the Palais Royal—the official residence of Mohammed VI of Morocco stands in the centre of the country’s capital, Rabat.
Alaouite sultans and kings have had a residence in the city since the reign of Muhammad al-Nafs al-Zakiyya in the 700s, although Rabat was only made the capital of Morocco in 1912. Dar al-Makhzen dates from 1864 and it was there that the late king, Hassan II, who reigned from 1961 to 1999, was born and the present one got married.
The palace compound overlooks a large mechouar (parade ground), which is used for major public gatherings, and encompasses a mosque, accommodation for the Royal Guard, a cookery school, a library that holds Hassan II’s manuscript collection and the College Royal, which educates members of the Moroccan Royal Family. Dar al-Makhzen is not open to the public.
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Also worth a visit
Imperial Palace, Tokyo, Japan Only the gardens are open, but are a must-see Royal Palace, Phnom Penh, Cambodia Fine Khmer architecture, open to visitors Amalienborg, Copenhagen, Denmark Go for the changing of the Royal Guard and the royal history museum Royal Palace, Oslo, Norway A guided tour takes in the magnificent state rooms
Drottningholm, Stockholm, Sweden
Renaissance-inspired Drottningholm is regarded as Sweden’s best-preserved royal palace and is one of Stockholm’s three UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
It was a woman—the queen dowager Hedwig Eleonora—who commissioned the building, which rose on the site of a previous castle. Work began in 1662, about the same time as Versailles. The 18th century saw the addition of a theatre—for Queen Louisa Ulrika, who was so passionate about culture, science and the Arts that she not only created a graceful library, but also brought in Carl Linnaeus to classify her natural-history collection—and a Chinese pavilion, where Swedish Rococo style met Oriental porcelains, silks and lacquered panels. When the weather was fair, Queen Louisa Ulrika’s son, Gustav III, would place a hearts playing card on his audience chamber’s door and the court would know they should head to the Chinese Pavilion that day. Drottningholm’s interiors reflect Sweden’s ambition to be one of Europe’s most powerful nations, particularly evident in the gilded splendour of Hedwig Eleonora’s state bedchamber. Much as the British royal palaces are home to The Queen’s dogs, this one, too, has hosted four-legged residents: Hedwig Eleonora was so fond of her spaniels and pugs that she commissioned German-born artist David Klöcker Ehrenstrahl to paint their portraits. Since then, the palace has been a haven for dogs and there’s even an island in the grounds, Ormholmen, where they can run off the lead—when the current king, Carl XVI Gustaf, and his queen, Silvia, opened a new pavilion there, they were accompanied by their Bavarian mountain hound, Brandie.
Visitors can take guided tours of some of Drottningholm’s state rooms and wander through the grounds.
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