Mansions and water palaces: the royals' luxurious (and controversial) vacations

BarcelonaArticle 24 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights establishes that everyone has the right to rest. Even royals, who although unlike the rest of us mortals do not have a period closed by calendar or working days, in summer they also take advantage to disappear for several days.

Although they usually take private vacations in which they opt for exotic destinations about which not much information usually transpires, the European royal houses also have vacations Officials at their summer residences, not without controversy.

Marivent, a Francoist gift

On August 4, 1973, the Franco regime granted Juan Carlos I and his family the Marivent Palace, a 33,000 square meter balcony overlooking the Mediterranean with unique views of the Bay of Palma. "We ask you, Your Highnesses, to accept this residence so that, together with your royal family, you can enjoy the well-deserved rest that our beautiful geography always offers, in the peace founded and consolidated by our Caudillo, which we have no doubt he will preserve for us and will increase in Mallorca," said José Alcover, according to an article in The Country.

Designed by architect Guillem Forteza at the request of painter and art collector Joan de Saridakis, this Mallorcan residence was completed in 1925, and the Alexandrian artist of Greek origin lived there with his wife until the early 1960s. Upon the artist's death, his widow gave it to the provincial council on the condition that it be used as a museum. More than fifty years later, the Spanish Crown continues to enjoy its traditional summer vacations despite financial scandals and the abdication of Juan Carlos I.

Many of the most iconic images of the royal family are set in Marivent and Mallorca, as it has been one of the locations. The Copa del Rey regattas, visits from other members of the royal family such as the Prince and Princess of Wales, and boat trips Fortune, the outings to the Club Mar nightclub, which then belonged to the Prince of Asturias, or the photographs of him with Isabel Sartorius. In 2014, Felipe VI was photographed in the palace gardens with Letizia and his daughters, Leonor and Sofía, which represented their first family portrait as monarchs.

Balmoral, the Windsor retreat

On the banks of the River Dee in Scotland's Cairngorms National Park lies one of the British royal family's most iconic buildings: Balmoral Castle. Spread over 50,000 acres of grounds, the palace served as a holiday retreat for seven royal generations.

"For me, Balmoral never ceased to be, quite simply, paradise; a cross between Disney World and some sort of sacred Druidic grove. I was always too busy fishing, hunting, and running up and down hills to notice any mistake in the feng shui of the old castle," Prince Harry claimed in his memoirs.

The Duke of Sussex is not the only one who was happy spending his summers in Scotland. Queen Victoria referred to it as "my dear paradise in the Highlands." It was she and her husband who in 1852 commissioned the construction of a new, more spacious palace than the original.

According to several biographers of the British monarchy, one of the activities that Elizabeth II most enjoyed at this Scottish property was the so-called "Balmoral Test," a supposed test that people who wanted to be part of the family's closest circle had to pass. According to Andrew Morton in his biography The queenThe first meeting between the monarch and Diana Spencer took place one summer at Balmoral. "Everyone on the estate knew what it meant. She was undergoing what was colloquially known as 'the Balmoral test' to see if she was a suitable match for the royal family," Morton recounts. The test involved finding out how guests handled situations that are normal in the Windsor environment, but which can be shocking to an outsider: rules of protocol, constant wardrobe changes, or outdoor activities.

Last summer, Balmoral Castle began a new chapter in its history, opening its doors to the public for the first time. This was part of King Charles III's campaign to make royal residences more accessible, also opening the East Wing of London's Buckingham Palace, home to the balcony where the Windsors gather for public functions.

Pacha III, the Grimaldi treasure

Every summer, the royal family of Monaco takes the Pacha III, the boat that Stéfano Casiraghi gave to Princess Caroline in 1989 before his death. A boat that combines the names of the couple's children: Pierre, Andrea, and Charlotte. This boat was built in 1936 in the United Kingdom, and the eldest daughter of Rainier III of Monaco and Grace Patricia invested around 3 million euros in its restoration, adding air conditioning, heating, hot water, and two toilets, among other amenities.

Currently, the Grimaldi clan uses this luxury boat to travel around the Mediterranean, and it has been the setting for the love stories of Caroline's children.

The controversial Greek mansion of the kings of Holland

Although most monarchs choose to have a summer residence within the borders of the country they represent, Willem-Alexander and Maxima of the Netherlands travel every summer to a luxurious 4,000-square-meter Greek villa that cost €4.5 million in 2012. The acquisition was widely criticized, as it took place during the midst of the economic crisis in the Netherlands.

They have also received complaints from various environmental groups and residents regarding the privatization of an area of the residence, which until recently was for public use. The monarchs also received numerous criticisms when they moved to 2020, at the height of the pandemic, when travel between countries was prohibited.

The French scandal of the Belgian monarchy

According to the magazine Vanity Fair, the Belgian royal family uses false names whenever they need to remain discreet abroad. The couple calls themselves "Mr. and Mrs. Legrand," the same surname they used to sign a petition for the construction of an annex to their summer home on Île-de-Yeu, a French island in the Bay of Biscay. The scandal surrounding the monarchs stems from the fact that the law allows construction of up to 30 square meters in a protected natural area, but the monarch received permission to build more than any other citizen could.

The scandal came to light two years later, when it was revealed that "Mr. and Mrs. Legrand" were Philippe and Mathilde of Belgium. "It seems that being king is enough to break the law and establish our natural heritage with the complicity of the authorities," a leader of the local government's opposition told the newspaper Le Monde.