Charles ‘will quit palace when he’s king’

But the Prince of Wales is considering moving his official residence to Windsor Castle after he becomes king, according to a new book.

Journalist and broadcaster Andrew Marr said Prince Charles’s plan to move away from Buckingham Palace is one of the ways he believes he can make his mark when he becomes king.

He wrote: “Prince Charles long ago distanced himself, physically and emotionally, from the Queen’s court.

“His succession would be followed by a dramatic clearing out of the current Buckingham Palace staff and the arrival of his own team.

“One of the more dramatic ideas that has been discussed is for the Royal Family in his reign to leave Buckingham Palace entirely, leaving it as a kind of grand official government hotel and centre for events.

“The king would base himself not in London, but at Windsor Castle.”

Yesterday, a spokesman for Clarence House refused to be drawn on the suggestion. “This is just speculation,” he said. “There have been no meetings or decisions about such matters.”

However, royal expert Charlie Jacoby said he was not surprised to hear of the prince’s plan to distance himself from Buckingham Palace.

“Prince Charles currently does run a rival court across the road from Buckingham Palace, and Buckingham Palace, as far as his lot are concerned, is part of the rival regime.”

Nonetheless, he said the palace was an important symbol.

He said: “Buckingham Palace is very important to the public perception of the Royal Family – when you think of things like Churchill on the balcony at the end of the Second World War, or of kisses on the balcony at royal weddings, they are really big hits.”

But he said it was at Sandringham and Balmoral, where they were able to live their lives in private, that members of the Royal Family felt most at home.

Buckingham Palace has been the official home of the Royal Family since the accession of Queen Victoria in 1837.

After her husband, Prince Albert, died in 1861, she abandoned it, spending time at Windsor, Balmoral and Osborne House on the Isle of Wight, largely disappearing from public life before public disapproval forced her to move back to London.

The palace, which is notoriously difficult to heat, has been the official residence of the Queen since her coronation.

Marr, who spent two years shadowing the Queen for his new book on the monarch, said he believed it was possible that the Queen, who is now 85, would pass some duties to Charles, who at 62 is the longest-serving heir to the throne in history.

One source said to him: “I wouldn’t actually rule [abdication] out, at the end of the day. If she got to a point where she was very old and very tired, it could come to be the sensible view. A lot depends on the public.”

As well as The Diamond Queen, which is published this week, Marr is preparing three documentary films for the BBC to mark the diamond jubilee next June. He said the experience of watching the Queen’s round of duties transformed him from a republican to a monarchist.

“She has been a lot more than dutiful, she has been shrewd, kind and wise. Britain without her would have been a greyer, shriller, more meagre place.”