grace and favour

In 1986, 120 grace-and-favour apartments were owned by the monarch, the most splendid being at Kensington Palace where the Prince and Princess of Wales, Duke and Duchess of Gloucester, and Prince and Princess Michael of Kent lived. There are also some at Windsor Castle, and Buckingham Palace. St James's Palace had 20 apartments. Lord Kitchener once lived there, as did the Duke of Windsor. Most apartments are modest, some two rooms, inhabited mostly by retired members of the household staff. Hampton Court Palace apartments were generally occupied by retired soldiers and diplomats or (more usually) by their widows. Grace and favour apartments have been discontinued at Hampton Court following a major fire there caused by a grace and favour resident. There were once 69. In 1986, this had dwindled to 15.{{Cite web |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1986/04/12/style/living-in-a-castle-by-royal-favor.html |title=Living in a castle by royal favor |author1=Jo Thomas |date=12 April 1986 |work=The New York Times| access-date=24 February 2019}}

In the latter part of Queen Victoria's reign, Frogmore Cottage in the Home Park, Windsor, was the grace and favour residence of her Indian attendant, Abdul Karim (the Munshi). In 2018, it was renovated for Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, who moved into it in the spring of 2019.{{Cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/11/24/prince-harry-meghan-say-goodbye-prince-william-catherine-move/|title = Duke and Duchess of Sussex to move to Frogmore House and begin family life|newspaper = The Telegraph|date = 24 November 2018|last1 = Sawer|first1 = Patrick}}

Other residences include:

• 10 Downing Street, City of Westminster – official residence of the First Lord of the Treasury (now always the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom)
• Chequers, Ellesborough, Buckinghamshire – official country house of the Prime Minister
• 11 Downing Street, Westminster – official residence of the Chancellor of the Exchequer (Second Lord of the Treasury)
• 12 Downing Street, Westminster – formerly the official residence of the Chief Whip, now the site of the Downing Street Press Office
• Dorneywood, Burnham – official ministerial residence; a country residence usually for use of the Chancellor, or for the Deputy Prime Minister (used by Chancellor during May ministry)
• Admiralty House, Westminster – official ministerial residence
• 1 Carlton Gardens, Westminster – official ministerial residence; usually for the Foreign Secretary
• Speaker's House, Palace of Westminster, Westminster – official residence of the Commons' Speaker
• Lord Speaker's Apartments, Palace of Westminster, Westminster – official residence of the Lord Speaker
• Nottingham Cottage at Kensington Palace – previously occupied by the Duke and Duchess of Sussex until their move to Frogmore Cottage, which they have also now vacated; previously occupied by other members of the royal family or by senior courtiers
• Garden House, Mayfair – official residence of the Commonwealth Secretary-General
• Adelaide Cottage – a royal family property located just 10 minutes' walk from the King's residence in Windsor, now the home of the Prince and Princess of Wales and their children
• The houses of Vicars' Close, owned by Wells Cathedral and occupied by its choir, since the 14th century.{{cite news| last=Wall | first=Tom | title='If we don’t look after this treasure, we're going to lose it': the fight to restore one of the UK's most historic streets |newspaper=The Observer| date=28 December 2024 | url=https://www.theguardian.com/global/2024/dec/28/wells-cathedral-somerset-vicars-close-uk-historic-street-restoration}}

• Hillsborough Castle, Hillsborough – official ministerial residence for the Northern Ireland Secretary

• Bute House, Charlotte Square, Edinburgh – official residence of the First Minister of Scotland
• Tulliallan Castle, Kincardine, Fife – official residence of the Chief Constable of Police Scotland
• Moderator's Flat, Rothesay Terrace – official residence of the Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland

Mary Treadgold's novel for children, The Winter Princess (1962), concerns a child who comes to stay in a grace and favour apartment at Hampton Court.{{cite book | title=Books of the Month | publisher=Simpkins Publishing Company | issue=v. 77 | year=1962 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=outJAAAAIAAJ | access-date=8 Oct 2022 | page=}}{{cite book | title=The Junior Bookshelf | publisher=Marsh Hall | issue=v. 26 | year=1962 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GQ1MAQAAIAAJ | access-date=8 Oct 2022 | page=}}

File:Downing_Street_(5679227676).jpg|View of numbers 10, 11, and 12 Downing Street – official residences of the First Lord of the Treasury (Prime Minister), Second Lord of the Treasury (Chancellor of the Exchequer), and the Chief Whip

File:Chequers2.jpg|Chequers – official country residence of the Prime Minister

File:The Admiralty and the Admiralty Screen.jpg|Admiralty House – official ministerial residence

File:Admiralty_Arch_-_01.jpg|Admiralty Arch – formerly an official ministerial residence

File:Hillsborough-corrected.jpg|Hillsborough Castle – official ministerial residence for the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland

File:British_Houses_of_Parliament.jpg|Palace of Westminster – housing the official residences of the Speaker of the House of Commons and the Lord Speaker of the House of Lords

• Royal Parks of London

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Category:Monarchy of the United Kingdom

Category:Housing in the United Kingdom

Category:Official residences in the United Kingdom