Queen’s entire billion-pound property portfolio revealed – with some surprises

It’s a stunning and enormous property portfolio worth billions – and it ranges from lavish palaces to a disused reservoir near St Albans.

But just what land does the Queen actually own?

The answer is surprising, as it goes well beyond the royal places you would expect, such as Buckingham Palace, Windsor Castle and the Sandringham estate.

Land owned by the Queen includes everything from a stretch of the M6 motorway in Lancashire and a rugby club in Norfolk to public toilets in central London and a retail park in South Tyneside.

And the 92-year-old monarch holds property in several ways.

There is private property belonging to the Queen herself and the land she owns in right of her Crown.

What she actually owns herself include Sandringham and Balmoral estates.

Other Royal Palaces and the Royal Parks are owned by the Crown, as is a large quantity of land known as the Crown Estate.

The Crown Estate belongs to the reigning monarch during their reign. However, it is not their private property – it cannot be sold by the monarch, nor do revenues from it belong to the monarch.

The Government also does not own The Crown Estate. It is managed by an independent organisation, with surplus revenue from the estate paid to the Treasury.

Occupied Royal Palaces are maintained by the Royal Household Property Section, unoccupied palaces are the responsibility of Historic Royal Palaces, and the Royal Parks are managed by the Royal Parks charity on behalf of the Government.

The Land Registry publishes information about commercial owners of property, which includes information on land owned by the Crown Estate and the Duchy of Lancaster.

According to the Land Registry, these organisations own land in 217 out of 348 districts in England and Wales – a total of 7,936 plots.

The Crown Estate owns around half of the UK’s foreshore (the bit of land exposed between high tide and low tide), some substantial areas of coastline and virtually all the UK’s seabed from average low tide to the 12 nautical mile limit.

It also owns mineral rights across around 115,000 hectares where it does not own the surface land. Naturally occurring gold and silver in the UK, collectively known as "Mines Royal", are managed by the Crown Estate.

So what does the Crown own across the UK?

East of England

Sandringham House, in Norfolk, along with Anmer House in the grounds, is the Queen’s property. She inherited it from her father.

The Crown Estate and Duchy of Lancaster owns 408 plots in the East of England – a combination of agricultural land, and foreshore and beds along rivers such as the Great Ouse, Nene, Stour, and Waveney, as well as foreshore and seabeds along the coast, such as at Great Yarmouth.

Among the properties owned by the Crown Estate are:

Cambridge Business Park

Thetford Golf Club and South Bedfordshire Golf Club

Thetford Rugby Club

White Lodge Business Park in Norwich

A disused reservoir on the east side of the M1 motorway, near St Albans

Burnham Yacht Harbour

Plots in Harlow Business Park

Queensgate Centre retail park, Harlow

East Midlands

The Crown Estate and Duchy of Lancaster owns 530 plots in the East Midlands, including mineral rights, mostly in Northamptonshire, agricultural land, and foreshore and beds of rivers including the Trent, and on the coast in places like Skegness.

Among the properties owned by the Crown Estate are:

The Higham Ferrers Campus of Moulton College in East Northamptonshire

Henry Chichele Primary School in East Northamptonshire

Rushden Lakes Shopping Centre

Victoria Retail Park in Netherfield

Fosse Park, Leicester

London

London is home to a number of Royal Palaces owned by the Crown. Buckingham Palace, Clarence House, and St James’ Palace are all maintained by the Royal Household Property Section.

Historic Royal Palaces manages the Tower of London, Hampton Court Palace, Kew Palace, and Banqueting House.

Kensington Palace is managed by both, depending on whether areas are private or open to the public.

The Royal Parks are also all in London: Hyde Park, Kensington Gardens, Richmond Park, Bushy Park, St James’s Park, The Green Park, The Regent’s Park and Primrose Hill, Greenwich Park, Brompton Cemetery, Victoria Tower Gardens, and Grosvenor Square Garden.

The Crown Estate and Duchy of Lancaster owns 571 plots in London and this includes:

The whole of Regent Street (including the public toilets)

The St James’ neighbourhood – the area bounded St James’s Palace, The Ritz, Piccadilly Circus and Trafalgar Square – which includes Pall Mall

Properties on the Strand, Piccadilly, Oxford Street, and Knightsbridge

Charing Cross Hospital

Theatre Royal, Haymarket and Her Majesty’s Theatre

The site of a pub called The Crown in Richmond

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The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists

Mottingham Ambulance Station

Canada House, New Zealand House, and South Africa House (where the countries’ respective High Commissions are based)

Kensington Palace Gardens – home to the French, Israeli, Russian and Nepalese embassies – including the police watchboxes at either end

55 Whitehall – home to the Department of International Trade and some really nice views (it features in Skyfall and it is the roof Sherlock falls from in the BBC series)

Marble Arch and Park Lane

The Civil Service Sports Ground in Greenwich

St. Thomas More RC School in Eltham

London Business School

Primrose Hill in Camden

The Carlton Club in St James’s Street

The Ritz Hotel Garden and The Strand Palace Hotel

White Lodge in Richmond, home of the Royal Ballet School

North East

The Crown Estate and Duchy of Lancaster owns 111 plots in the North East, including almost all foreshore and beds of rivers, including the Tees, Trent, and Tweed.

It also owns:

Tynemouth Army Reserve Centre, North Shields

The Gate, Newcastle

Silverlink Shopping Park, South Tyneside

North West

The Crown Estate and Duchy of Lancaster owns 1,183 plots in the North West, including mineral rights and rights to gold and silver, mostly in Cheshire, agricultural land, and foreshore and beds of rivers including the Mersey, and on the coast in places like Morecambe Bay.

Among the properties owned by the Crown Estate are:

Altrincham Retail Park

Barthomley Service Station in Crewe

Cheshire Military Museum

Chester Castle

Part of the M6 and the Motorway Service area near Bay Horse, Lancaster

Oldham County Court

Public Conveniences, Dunsop Bridge, Clitheroe

Racecourse Retail Park, Aintree

Lancaster Castle

The Inn at Whitewell, Clitheroe

Vale Royal Abbey Arms Hotel

Coliseum Shopping Park, Ellesmere Port

South East

The South East is home to Windsor Castle, which is owned by the Crown, and maintained by the Royal Household Property Section. Windsor Great Park is owned by the Crown Estate.

The Crown Estate and Duchy of Lancaster owns 489 plots in the South East, including agricultural land, and foreshore and beds of rivers including the Ouse, Medway, and on the coast in places like Southampton and Portsmouth.

Among the properties owned by the Crown Estate are:

John Lewis Distribution Centre, Milton Keynes

Danes Hill Preparatory School, Leatherhead

Parts of the High Street in Windsor

Ascot Racecourse and Ascot United Football Club

Datchet Golf Club and Osborne Golf Course, East Cowes

Old Windsor Working Men’s Club

MK1 Shopping & Leisure Park, Milton Keynes

South Aylesford Retail Park

Queensmead School Windsor

The Prince Of Wales pub in East Cowes

Banbury Gateway Shopping Park

The Harte and Garter Hotel, Windsor

South Aylesford Retail Park, Maidstone

Westgate Shopping Centre, Oxford

Ocean Retail Park, Portsmouth

South West

Gatcombe Park in Gloucestershire is the Queen’s property. She bought it in 1976 for Princess Anne, who still lives there.

The Crown Estate and Duchy of Lancaster owns 537 plots in the South West, including agricultural land, and foreshore and beds of rivers including the Avon and Exe, and on the coast in places like Poole Harbour.

Among the properties owned by the Crown Estate are:

Gallagher Shopping Park, Cheltenham

The Lobster Pot restaurant, Portland Bill

The Royal Citadel, Plymouth

Princesshay Shopping Centre, Exeter

St Briavels Castle

The Tile Factory, Marlborough

West Midlands

The Crown Estate and Duchy of Lancaster owns 253 plots in the West Midlands, including mineral rights, including gold and silver, mostly in East Staffordshire and agricultural land.

Among the properties owned by the Crown Estate are:

Crowngate Shopping Centre, Worcester

RAF Fauld

Tatenhill Airfield

Tutbury Castle and House

Yorkshire and the Humber

The Crown Estate and Duchy of Lancaster owns 2,622 plots in Yorkshire and the Humber, including mineral and mining rights and rights to gold and silver, mostly in North Yorkshire, agricultural land, and foreshore and beds of rivers including the Hull, Ouse, and Trent, and on the coast in places like Bridlington and Robin Hood’s Bay..

Among the properties owned by the Crown Estate are:

The Blacksmith’s Arms Inn, Cloughton

Crown Point Shopping Park, Leeds

Scarborough Castle

Spa Tennis Club, Harrogate

Yorkshire Water’s Treatment Works in Scarborough

Wales

The Crown Estate and Duchy of Lancaster owns 1,232 plots in Wales, mostly mineral rights, slate mining rights and rights to gold and silver, agricultural land, and foreshore and beds of rivers including the Taff, and on the coast in places like Milford Haven.

Among the properties owned by the Crown Estate are:

Tintern Abbey

Wildfowl and Wetland Centre, near Llanelli

Land Registry data isn’t available for Northern Ireland and Scotland, however there is still other information about properties owned by the Crown.

Scotland

Balmoral Castle, in Aberdeenshire, along with the properties in the grounds, is the Queen’s property. She inherited it from her father.

Scotland is also home to the Palace of Holyroodhouse, which is owned by the Crown, and maintained by Conservation Directorate of Historic Scotland, part of the Scottish Government.

The Crown Estate in Scotland owns 39-41 George Street, Edinburgh, as well as 37,000 hectares or rural land and around half of the foreshore and most of the seabed out to the 12 nautical mile limit.

It also owns the rights to fish for salmon in some parts of Scotland.

Northern Ireland

Hillsborough Castle is managed by Historic Royal Palaces.

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