Carlton House was a major renovation project of George IV before he became king and switched his attention to Buckingham Palace.
Since the time of Henry VIII heirs to the throne had been awarded St James’s Palace as their London residence. This arrangement had broken down after the destruction of Whitehall in 1698 and the decision, by Queen Anne, to make St James’s the principal seat of the monarchy. The sons of George I and II made do with renting houses near St James’s but George Prince of Wales, eldest son of George III, wanted something more permanent – and substantial. In 1783 he was granted a house that had belonged to his grandfather between Pall Mall and St James’s Park on the site of modern Waterloo Place. It was a ramshackle building without grandeur or gravitas.
George immediately started work to improve it and the story of his involvement with the building over the next forty-two years is one of financial crisis and mismanagement, changes of mind and direction and some moments of sublime design and decoration. However, the important point is that the site was completely inadequate for what the Prince wanted. It was on a steep slope so there were more stories on the park front than on the street, but most of all it was too small for the prince’s ambitions.
In Carlton House at its peak the park front, ground-floor, suite was a long enfilade of entertainment rooms including a dining room, library and conservatory and above (at street level) were the state suite of drawing rooms, throne rooms and ante rooms. The top floor contained bedrooms. The decorative state of the rooms was in a perpetual state of flux and rooms changed function and décor with bewildering rapidity rather like scenery at the theatres of which George was so fond. Sometimes Chinese, sometimes gothic and other times French the interiors were always lavish and executed to the highest standard. When George III became incapacitated Carlton House became the centre of court life at which point tents and temporary structures were erected to host the Prince Regent’s huge parties.
When George became king he quickly switched his attention to Buckingham Palace and in early 1826 he had decided to leave Carlton House for good.
Carlton House was demolished in 1827 but most of its furniture and many fixtures were salvaged and parts of the house and its furnishings can be seen embedded in Windsor Castle and Buckingham Palace today.