Hampton Court residents challenging royals over eviction

The Queen and her brood can make themselves at home in several residences across the UK. These include both official and private homes in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, many of which facilitate their official duties. They are also hundreds of years old and served as a mainstay for other time-honoured rulers.

Does the Queen own Hampton Court?

Many British monarchs have a favoured residence during their rule, which for the current Queen is either Windsor or Buckingham Palace.

She has spent much of 2020 in the former residence, where she has had to shelter from Covid-19.

Another distant relative of hers, King Henry VIII, spent most of his time at Hampton Court.

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Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, the king’s chief minister, first owned the now Grade I listed property after construction in 1515.

But he fell out of favour with Henry in 1529 and transferred his property to the king.

After some renovations, the king adopted it as his favourite residence, now of two properties along with St James’ Palace still standing today.

The Queen now owns the residence as part of the Crown Estate, meaning it belongs to the monarch rather than her personally.

She has never lived there, however, neither has any monarch since the reign of King George II in the 18th century.

But it has had several non-monarch residents living at apartments there.

Grace and favour residents started inhabiting the property from the 1760s.

These types of residents lived rent-free either as part of an employment package or in recognition of previous services rendered.

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People lived in Hampton Court up to the 20th and 21st centuries.

The last few people moved in during the 1980s, and by 2005, three remained.

Grace and favour residents slowly relocated until they had all left by 2017.

According to legend, however, some residents never left at all.

One of the property’s remaining draws is for tourism, with millions of people intrigued by its rich history and architecture.

But one aspect of the attraction is its allegedly ethereal presence, as several residents have died at Hampton Court.

Henry VIII’s wife Jane Seymour died there giving birth to Edward VI.

Her ghostly spectre allegedly roams the halls of Hampton Court every year on the anniversary of her death.

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