Number one resident is Princess Anne, the King’s sister. She has a snazzy apartment inside the palace, and it’s perfect for her. Why? Because St James’s Palace backs onto Green Park, and Anne is famously a horse-obsessed Olympian. She can practically roll out of bed and onto a bridle path. Imagine her morning routine: “Tea, toast, and a gallop through the park, please, before I attend three charity meetings.”
She’s lived there for decades, and she’s known for being the hardest-working royal. If you see a figure in a headscarf power-walking through the courtyard, that’s her. She’s the one who runs the show here, and she does not suffer fools. Legend has it she once told a tourist to stop taking photos of her horse. I believe it.
Other Royal Flats: The Invisible Royals
Princess Alexandra, the Queen’s cousin, also has a place here. She’s 87 and often described as “the glamorous one.” She throws parties that are reportedly very chic, but you won’t hear about them in the tabloids. She’s part of the quiet royalty—the ones who have titles but don’t do TikTok dances.
You also have the Duke of Kent and the Duke of Gloucester. They live in grace-and-favour apartments. That means they don’t pay rent, but they have to show up for state banquets and wave at crowds. It’s like a weird, posh timeshare. They get a free flat in a 500-year-old castle, but they must wear funny hats on Sunday.
