When you think of homes owned by the Royal Family, the first few that spring to mind are likely Windsor Castle, Buckingham Palace, Balmoral Castle and Kensington Palace, but what about the others?
Many of us know that King Charles had several homes around the country before his accession- six to be precise. This isn't counting a number of areas around the world that he visits regularly and has a base there. While The King has homes that stretch as far north as Scotland and as far south as the Isles of Scilly, he only owns one holiday home outside of the country after he fell in love with the area after he carried out an official duty there over almost two decades ago.
While you may imagine that The King's favourite place to escape to would be something similar to Princess Margaret's haven on the small Caribbean island of Mustique, Charles' home couldn't be any different.
King Charles bought the Blue House in Transylvania, Romania in 2006 after falling in love with the area during an official visit in 1998. The vibrant farmhouse is located in the rural village Viscri and is open to the public when he is not in residence.
The King typically spends a couple of days each year in the country and can be regularly spotted meeting the locals and going for hikes. The house itself features seven bedrooms and has no radios or televisions inside in order to create a peaceful and tranquil atmosphere.
Rooms at the Blue House cost around £100 a night and they are all furnished with antique Transylvanian furniture. Designers maintained the cottage’s authenticity by carefully restoring it with traditional methods and materials.
In addition to the seven en-suite bedrooms, the property features a drawing room, a dining room, a sitting room, a large kitchen and an outdoor breakfast barn which contains an impressive bread oven.
His Majesty's love of Transylvania is in part due to the harmony of local people and nature that can be found in Romania. In a docuseries titled Wild Carpathia, Charles said: "It is the last corner of Europe where you see complete sustainability and true resilience.
"It’s the timelessness of it which is so remarkable, almost out of some of those stories one used to read as a child. It’s quite remarkable. People are yearning for that sense of belonging and identity and meaning."
Love the royals? Sign up for the Mirror's daily newsletter to get all the latest news on the Queen, Charles, Kate, Wills, Meghan, Harry and the rest of The Firm. Click here to sign up .
While The King's home in Transylvania is perhaps his best kept secret, Tamarisk House on Tresco Island in the Isles of Scilly is the most well hidden as a number of Tamarisk trees were planted to protect their privacy.
The island itself is the only one of the five islands which is privately owned and is said to boast white sand, turquoise waters, rare birds and lush flora and fauna. It has even been dubbed the ‘Cornish Caribbean’. The home was built in the 1960s on land owned by the Duchy of Cornwall.
But it isn’t just that royal couple that enjoyed visiting Tresco, as The Prince and Princess of Wales have been pictured there with their children, Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis, on a handful of occasions. During their last visit, fellow holidaymakers described what it was like seeing the royals. They said: "We hardly noticed at first as they seemed a normal family on holiday intent on keeping themselves to themselves."
