With lavish residences across the United Kingdom, it’s hard to imagine the members of the British royal family ever wanting to leave any of their opulent homes. (Well, except perhaps for Prince Harry and Duchess Meghan….) But when they do want to trade their familiar territories for a bit of well-deserved R&R, the elite family is known to jet to some of the world’s most idyllic places. Below, AD explores the stunning sites—from romantic ski towns to white-sand beach resorts—that Prince William and Princess Kate, King Charles, and more deem worthy of a royal vacation.
Amid the stream of islands in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Mustique became known to many in 1976, when photos surfaced of Princess Margaret there with Roddy Llewellyn, with whom she had an eight-year affair (as portrayed on The Crown season three). Her former home on the private island, called Les Jolies Eaux, still exists today, and the six-bedroom dwelling is available for rent. The Caribbean paradise is also a go-to vacation spot for the Prince and Princess of Wales, who traveled there most recently in 2019 with their three children. The British royal family reportedly stayed at Villa Antilles, a five-bedroom contemporary Colonial-style abode.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex traveled to Botswana in 2016 for their third date and "camped out under the stars,” Harry later recalled. The couple, who exited their roles as senior members of the royal family in spring 2020, reportedly stayed at one of Harry’s favorite locations, Meno a Kwena, and returned to the tented sustainable safari lodge the next year to celebrate Duchess Meghan's birthday. The landlocked country in southern Africa is so special to the couple that Harry had one of the diamonds on Meghan's engagement ring sourced from there.
King Charles, Harry, and the late Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip have all vacationed at the 400-acre Half Moon resort, which offers guests access to beautiful beaches, the largest award-winning spa oasis in Jamaica, an 18-hole championship golf course, an equestrian center, and the famed Sugar Mill restaurant. When Harry stayed there in 2012 during his first official tour to mark the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, he reportedly opted for one of the property’s five-bedroom villas, which comes fully staffed and has its own private pool. Sitting on Jamaica’s north coast, Montego Bay is a popular cruise-ship port known for its pristine beaches and crystal blue waters.
King Charles’s go-to ski destination for more than four decades now has two chair lifts named after him. The quaint Swiss area is reportedly where William and Harry first learned to ski as children, and they have returned on multiple occasions in adulthood. The Prince and Princess of Wales’ relationship first went public during one memorable trip to the alpine resort village, after they were spotted hitting the slopes. Known for its serene atmosphere and discreet luxury, Klosters is home to Hotel Walserhof, one of Charles’s favorite hotels. Harry has been spotted at Casa Antica, the same place where Princess Diana was known to enjoy après-ski.
Acclaimed for its stunning beaches, the small Caribbean island was Diana’s first vacation destination following her separation from Charles. Joined by William and Harry on the getaway, the trio stayed at Montpelier Plantation Inn, a charming boutique hotel with breathtaking views. More than a decade later, Harry returned to Nevis to bring awareness to the island’s conservation work. Making a stop at Lovers Beach, he volunteered with the Nevis turtle conservation project. During a 2019 tour of the Caribbean, King Charles and Queen Camilla stopped by the island’s Hermitage Plantation House, where Camilla reportedly enjoyed a bit of rum punch.
King Charles and Queen Camilla have frequently enjoyed summer holidays on the Greek island of Corfu over the years. The couple usually stay at the Rothschild villa, a luxurious retreat that features waterfalls, ancient pine trees, and a pool overlooking the Ionian Sea. The monarch has a special connection to the island. His father, Prince Phillip, was born on Corfu in 1921 and lived there for the first 18 months of his life until he was smuggled out of the country in a fruit crate when his family was forced to leave Greece. “Apart from anything else, Greece is in my blood and I have long had a fascination for her ancient culture and history,” the king told the news outlet Kathimerini in 2018. “I have been so fortunate to have visited some of Greece’s many beautiful and unique places.”
The Prince and Princess of Wales took their children Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis on vacation to Jordan in 2021. The family visited the ancient city of Petra and even used it as the backdrop for their annual Christmas card. The princess lived in Amman, Jordan, for almost three years in the early 1980s while her father Michael Middleton worked for British Airways. During a tour of the Middle East in 2018, Prince William posed in the same spot his wife had taken a family photo as a child and told photographers that he and the Princess would have to bring their children next time. A few years later they did just that, enjoying a secret holiday in the country.
Before they were parents of three, Prince William and Princess Catherine enjoyed holidays in the beautiful islands of the Seychelles. The couple stayed at the Desroches Island Lodge (now the Four Seasons Resort Seychelles at Desroches Island) in August 2007, after getting back together following a short breakup. After their 2011 wedding, the Prince and Princess honeymooned for ten days at North Island, a private island in the Seychelles that was also chosen by George and Amal Clooney and Salma Hayek and Francois-Henri Pinault for their respective honeymoons.
