It was our late Queen Elizabeth II’s most beloved residence. Though she was always careful never to show favouritism, Sandringham is believed to have held a special place in the monarch’s heart.
She delivered her first Christmas message from there in 1957 and it is where her grandfather, King George V, delivered the very first ever (by radio) a quarter of a century earlier. He referred to it as “the place I love better than anywhere else in the world”.
Bought in 1862 by Queen Victoria for her son ‘Bertie’ — the Prince of Wales who later became King Edward VII — this Jacobean-style country mansion near the Norfolk coast now serves as the country retreat of Their Majesties King Charles III and Queen Camilla. Once described by an aristocrat as “the most comfortable house in England”, it is where the royal family traditionally spend the festive period together.
Its surrounding 21,000 acre estate is where they enjoy country pursuits as well as taking their famous walks to St. Mary Magdalene Church on Christmas Morning. And it could also be where you spend your next winter break, if you’ve a spare couple of thousand pounds lying under the tree.
The Folly is a turreted Swiss-style villa built on Sandringham’s royal estate just a few years after the main house was completed. Nestled on the edge of woodlands, it was originally designed to host majestic afternoon teas for the royal family’s distinguished guests, and to serve as a guesthouse when the main house was full.
In the late 19th century, the Prince of Wales, who was at the centre of an elite social group known as the “Marlborough House Set”, was famous for throwing scandalously lavish parties. In keeping with his reputation, he also used The Folly as a discreet love nest for his affair with the actress and socialite Lillie Langtry.
Having been recently restored and sympathetically updated, The Folly is now available to the public to rent exclusively through upmarket travel specialists Oliver’s Travels. The company, who handle luxury properties around the world, ranging from stately homes and medieval castles right up to private islands, are offering a week’s stay starting from the princely sum of £2,499.
That might sound a lot until you consider that many five-star hotels in central London will cost you more than double that for the same duration – and you won’t get to wave, as I did, to Prince William and Princess Kate (I’m not sure they saw me though!) as they helicopter over the back garden into Amner Hall, the country residence on the royal estate given to them as a wedding present by the late Queen.
Yet the Folly, it must be said, is one of the most regal destinations to enjoy a holiday in the UK, short of being invited by the sovereign to a sleepover at Buckingham Palace itself. The feeling of having suddenly joined the nobility starts as soon as you pull up to the wrought iron front gates with the initials ‘ER’ (Elizabeth Regina) emblazoned across them.
Scrunching down the gravel driveway into the pristinely manicured front garden brings you to a flagpole used for indicating when guests far more important than me are in residence.
A push on the Tiffany-blue front door and you’re on the threshold of a sumptuously furnished set of downstairs reception rooms. Copies of Country Life (which both the King and Queen have guest-edited) are neatly stacked on coffee tables next to antique books reflecting the monarchs’ shared interests in animals and nature.
Sandringham is the location of the The Royal Stud where many of the late Queen Elizabeth’s winning racehorses were bred.
As I gaze around, I spot paintings of famous stallions as well as pictures of Pembroke Welsh Corgis (the late Queen’s favourite breed of dog) lining the walls, decorated in William Morris wallpaper. Also dotted around the house are mementos and gifts presented to the King on royal and state visits all around the world.
Some are esoteric works of art from faraway lands; other gifts are more practical, such as a personal wooden beer keg made and presented to him (as Prince Charles) by Master Cooper Andrew Young (pictured).
The Grade II listed, three-bedroomed house sleeps six guests and is divided into two wings. A spiral staircase leads up to the main bedroom where King Edward VII used to entertain Lillie Langtry.
It’s my royal abode for the night and, after unpacking my things, I open the French windows and walk out onto the balcony. It stretches right around the first floor and up to a circular reading room in the turreted tower from which the house takes its name.
‘Alexandra’s Folly’ is where Queen Alexandra would ensconce herself to enjoy the glorious views of the surrounding woodlands that lead down to Sandringham House. These teem with wildlife that has, for centuries, provided the quarry for royal shooting parties.
As if right on cue, I spot a deer foraging nervously in the back garden where a dining table and chairs, plus a rather swish-looking barbecue, have been laid out on the balcony.
Back downstairs there’s a huge kitchen fully stocked with delicious provisions from the Sandringham Royal Estate Shop, as well as a fully equipped boot room complete with treats and even a rather aristocratic looking bed for any canine guests (corgi or otherwise).
The only slightly incongruous, albeit authentic, detail is the downstairs toilet. True to its 19th century origins, The Folly’s is ‘commode’ style, featuring a plank of wood with a hole in it. Surprisingly, it’s far more comfortable than it sounds. In any case, the toilets in the two upstairs bathrooms are of the more conventional, modern type that 21st century bottoms are used to!
With a market value of approximately £60 million, Sandringham trails well behind Buckingham Palace, thought to be worth £2.5 billion, according to high-net-worth mortgage broker Enness Global. They estimate The Folly itself to be worth around £2.4 million. Whilst that might seem like a snip, it’s more than five times the average of a similar sized house in that part of the county…although without the noble connections and, of course, that all important location location location.
It’s allegedly one of the properties on the royal estate being mooted as the possible new home of the former Duke of York, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor — who has been forced by the King to leave Royal Lodge in Berkshire — although there has been no official comment from the Palace on the matter.
After a hearty breakfast in The Folly’s dining room of what else but marmalade on toast (old habits die hard, ma’am), I set off into the local village, Dersingham, which borders the royal estate. The name Sandringham is actually a shortening of “Sant Dersingham”, meaning the “sandy part of Dersingham”.
The heart of the village is the lively local pub, the Coach and Horses, where I receive a friendly welcome from the manager, Seb. He tells me that his locals include many of the staff who work at Sandringham, and even one or two rather famous names. I ask him if the King, who’s known to favour dark beer, has ever popped in for a pie and a pint, or perhaps something a bit more regally appropriate from the pub’s menu.
“Not yet,” he replies, “but we always keep a table by for him, just in case!”
To book a stay at The Folly, visit oliverstravels.com; for more information on Sandringham, go to sandringhamestate.co.uk