Temperatures in the UK have reached record levels this week, with a high of 34.8°C in Kew Gardens, London, recorded on Bank Holiday Monday, as reported by the Met Office. Many of us will be seeking ways to keep our properties cool during the heatwave, but the royal family could be one step ahead without having to make any changes…
Most royal residences are historical, Grade I or Grade II listed buildings, and the age of the properties could contribute to their ability to keep temperatures down inside. Princess Anne's home in Gloucestershire is the perfect example of this, being built from ashlar limestone, a material known as a great insulator.
Historic England explains: "Heavy and dense materials can be very effective at absorbing thermal energy without exhibiting a significant change in temperature or experiencing large temperature swings. Historic building materials such as stone, and the thick walls of traditionally constructed buildings, have high thermal mass which allows them to remain thermally stable. Exposed stone or brickwork can help the absorption of thermal energy and act as a buffer to outside temperature fluctuations."
© SOPA Images/LightRocket via GettSo, by their very nature, the royal family’s beloved homes like Buckingham Palace, Sandringham House and Balmoral, will be better at keeping residents cool than modern buildings.
However, as the UK experiences a growing number of really hot days each year, many people have raised the question if air conditioning should be more commonplace in homes. This modern feature isn’t something that any royal homes are known to have. Instead, King Charles and Co. will be forced to crack a window and close the curtains like the rest of us to keep their properties cool:
The power of the sun
His Majesty has been championed for harnessing the benefits of sunnier days though, with the installation of a 2,000-panel solar farm at his beloved Sandringham Estate. It took 10 months of work for the impressive feature to be completed, and despite its colossal size, it has been cleverly designed with surrounding woodland so it is obscured from visitors’ view when they come and tour the house and grounds. The solar panels provide energy for his Norfolk home and any remaining unused energy will go back to the grid.
© Getty ImagesThe monarch has long advocated for sustainable initiatives, making many changes since taking over royal homes from his late mother, Queen Elizabeth II.
Aged just 21, Charles delivered a milestone speech in which he warned about plastic waste, and the impact of chemicals in bodies of water. Speaking in 2020, he revisited the aftermath of this. Charles explained how his views were once dismissed, saying: "I was considered rather dotty, to say the least, for even suggesting these things, rather like when I set up a reed-bed sewage treatment system at Highgrove all those years ago - that was considered completely mad."
