Royal holiday homes around the UK you can visit to get a taste of how the other half live

Well now you can – sort of.

Staying in a palace might be a bit out of the average person’s budget, but you can still have a nosey inside as many royal holiday spots are now open to public.

From stately homes to floating hotels, here are some of the most majestic places royals have stayed that you can see for yourself.

Osborne, Isle of Wight

Built in the style of a grand Italian palazzo, it features sumptuous state rooms and flowery family rooms, notably the bedchamber where the monarch finally met her maker after 63 years on the throne.

A wooded walkway leads to the private beach where she took a daily dip, her modesty protected by a bathing machine winched in and out of the Solent by several servants.

The 1,000ft-long strip of sand and shingle boasts stonking views across the waters to Portsmouth and is ideal for summer sunbathing, picnicking and yacht-spotting.

In almost half a century of service, Britannia clocked up more than a million nautical miles, taking in the honeymoon voyages of four royal couples – including Charles and Di – all of whom went on to encounter stormy weather before their marriages hit the rocks.

It’s now permanently berthed in Leith in Edinburgh so you can have a snoop around the vessel’s five impressive decks, from the engine room and crew areas up to the Queen’s rather chintzy private quarters.

The Edwardian It Girl entertained seven Indian maharajas and three English kings here, including George VI – better known as Bertie to his friends, or ‘Colin Firth in The King’s Speech’ by modern-day moviegoers.

George spent his honeymoon here with new wife, Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, who described the villa – zhuzhed in fine style by the team behind the Ritz – as ‘delicious’. It’s also worth a visit for the estate’s magnificent walking trails, all boasting views of the Surrey Hills.

The fifth-floor penthouse stylishly combines the old with the offbeat: bedroom walls are lined with the same silk that graced the first-class dining room of the Titanic, while the all-marble bathroom has an original Crapper toilet.

For those who don’t want to splash out on the suite’s princely price tag of £7,500 per night (or a regular room for £435), the cocktail lounge and Michelin-
starred restaurant are equally stately but cheaper options.