When King Charles III is crowned on May 6, the world will witness, for the first time since his mother’s coronation in 1953, a ceremony that packs more than 1,000 years of British pomp and pageantry into a single day.
But for some people, one day might not be enough.
Britain teems with castles that offer travelers a chance to walk the same halls and sleep in the same quarters as monarchs of days gone by. Those who revel in the grand spectacle unfolding in Westminster Abbey may also want to soak in the noble lore in the old stone walls of some of those castles.
“The sheer drama of the past thousand years of royal history in Great Britain is like a long-running soap opera,” said Tracy Borman, a London-based royal historian and the author of 'Crown & Sceptre,' a history of the British monarchy from William the Conqueror to Charles III. “You’ve got the king who marries six times, the virgin queen, the crown changing hands numerous times on the battlefield, abdication, usurpations, scandal. It’s basically the best drama you could ever hope for.”
Sleeping in a castle can feel like playing a bit part in that sweeping tale. “When people stay in a castle they never forget it,” said Roger Masterson, founder of Celtic Castles, a travel company and booking platform that works with more than 100 castles across the United Kingdom.
In the past year, Masterson said he had noticed an increase in Scottish castle bookings in particular, which he attributed to the coverage of Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral and the royal family’s journey back to London from Balmoral Castle, where the queen often spent her vacations. “It really showed off Scotland at its best,” he said.
These six British castles may not be Balmoral, but they still give travelers a chance to steep themselves in history and get a taste of living, if not like royalty, at least like nobility.
Hever Castle: Set in Kent, the “Garden of England,” just 35 miles from Buckingham Palace, Hever Castle transports guests 700 years back in time with fairy-tale architecture that features a medieval sandstone gatehouse, a double moat and two portcullises reached via a drawbridge. But it’s the castle’s storied history as the childhood home of Anne Boleyn, the second wife of Henry VIII, that makes it a popular day trip from London.
Scone Palace: More than 40 Scottish kings, including Macbeth, were crowned at Moot Hill, on the grounds of Scone Palace in central Scotland. The Gothic edifice, which dates to the 12th century and functioned as the seat of the Scottish Parliament for centuries, has been the established residence of a long line of earls from the Murray family (which still owns the castle). Travelers can rent the private wing, which sleeps 16 guests in eight bedrooms.
An atmosphere of nobility reigns in the dining room, drawing room and long gallery, which are filled with regal furnishings, including ivory, porcelain, royal portraits and silk brocade wall coverings.
Thornbury Castle: Originally an 11th-century manor house built for a Saxon lord in the Bristol countryside, Thornbury Castle was converted into a fortified castle by Edward Stafford, the third Duke of Buckingham, in 1510 with the permission of King Henry VIII.
Guests overnighting at the castle, a 27-room Relais & Châteaux property, are met with an impressive stone facade studded with medieval-style battlements and gunports, oriel windows, and manicured Tudor gardens within the 15-acre grounds.
Glenapp Castle: “When our guests arrive, they comment on how it is like arriving at a grand home because there is no reception desk or no bar,” said Jill Chalmers, managing director of Glenapp Castle, a Relais & Châteaux property perched on the rugged Ayrshire coast of southwestern Scotland.
Panoramic views of the Irish Sea and the volcanic island Ailsa Craig complement a storybook facade topped with turrets, towers and crenelations, and a 110-acre private estate full of gardens and woodlands.
“We have personal hosts and butlers that tend to guests,” Chalmers said, adding that Glenapp Castle’s owner will often give guests a personal history tour of the castle.
Amberley Castle: Originally a hunting lodge dating back to the early 12th century, Amberley Castle was transformed into a fortified manor house during medieval times and has hosted King Henry VIII, King Charles II and Queen Elizabeth II over the centuries.
Located in the West Sussex hamlet of Amberley, known for its thatched cottages, the Relais & Châteaux castle still flaunts its original stone curtain walls with crenelations, a working portcullis and twin-tower gatehouse.
Forter Castle: Family, royal or otherwise, is everything at Forter Castle, a 16th-century fortress about 80 miles north of Edinburgh in the Scottish Highlands. “It very much feels like a family home,” said Katharine Pooley, the owner and interior designer, who personally selected every design detail as she and her father meticulously restored the castle.
Goatskin chairs, antler candelabras, wrought-iron chandeliers and tartan rugs share space with Pooley family photographs and heirlooms. Five of the six bedrooms are named for her father and the four siblings with designs that reflect their respective personalities. Furnishings include antiques and four-poster beds with Ralph Lauren linens.
In one intriguing transformation, a former dungeon has become a designer kitchen stocked with Le Creuset cookware where guests can prepare their own meals, or book a private chef. - The New York Times
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