The Crown TV locations: where were the interiors filmed and how to recreate the royal look at home

Catch-up on The Crown surrounded by your own regal interiors. Here's how to get the look.
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Marianne Cotterill4 December 2020

With a notorious penchant for cereal in Tupperware and a pretty substantial collection of family hand-me-downs, in some ways the Queen is an unlikely sustainability icon for our times, when it comes to her homes, at least.

Season 4 of The Crown shows the Queen's Scottish residence, Balmoral (recreated at Hedsor House in Buckinghamshire and Knebworth House in Hertfordshire) filled with well-worn squishy sofas covered in throws and cushions that have been around for many years.

We see interiors of rich, dark mahogany and chiming clocks, deer antlers and crystal tumblers and decanters. You can almost smell the polish and the hyacinths, the firewood and the Harris Tweed.

While Her Majesty's "reuse" of her unparalleled collection of heirlooms and valuable antiques is laudable from an eco-friendly perspective, those of us without store rooms full of priceless paintings and furniture might still be looking to start a homewares collection that will last generations.

Alternatively, the escapism provided by the Netflix series might simply have inspired us to pick up a cheerful accessory or two to make ourselves feel more regal in a year when our lives have been anything but.

Get the regal look

Start at H&M Home for some Princess Margaret-worthy cut glass tumblers for £8.99; Witney Blankets sells an Antique Royal Stewart throw in soft merino lambswool for £87.95; if you want a personalised throw, look to Not On The High Street, which offers many inexpensive versions; and Wayfair has a Kellie tartan rug from £59.99.

If you like antlers but are put off by the real thing, Next Home sells an antler wall light for £40 or ceiling light for £99, both made out of resin.

Uplifting yellows

Somerleyton Hall in East Anglia is where many of the Sandringham scenes were filmed, and the Queen's office there is an uplifting yellow.

Farrow and Ball does a similar colour called "print room yellow" at £47.95 for 2.5 litres of paint.

Many of Buckingham Palace's rooms were recreated at Lancaster House, managed by the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, and at Wilton House in Salisbury, the home of the Earl and Countess of Pembroke.

Wilton House is famous for its lavish, gilded interiors and is recognisable in many scenes from Emma, Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility and even Blackadder. The rooms are redolent with luxurious reds, greens and golds, with matching wall coverings and drapes.

On the walls

Designers Guild sells Royal Collection fabrics, wallpapers and trimmings - it had access to the vast royal archive so these are authentic velvets and damasks from £100 per metre.

Surround yourself in splendour with digitally printed recreation wall panels of Buckingham Palace and the surrounding St James's Park sourced from the archives at Windsor Castle for £288 per roll, also from Designers Guild. At the other end of the spectrum you can find damask wallpaper from Wilko for £13 per roll.

All the royal homes are stuffed with paintings in often opulent, gilded frames, while tables and desks are crammed with family photographs.

Many of the paintings are top lit; for a similar look the best lights can be found at Original BTC, in particular the Cooper picture light at £489.

John Lewis sells an antique-effect brass one for £70. Candelabra, candlesticks, chandeliers and table lamps litter these royal interiors, too, making for a maximalist rococo extravaganza. John Lewis has some impressive chandeliers from the full-on Victoria at £225 to the pretty Arbor at £195. At H&M you can buy a three-arm golden metal candelabra for £19.99.

Country chic

Somerley House in Hampshire was the location chosen as Highgrove House, the Prince of Wales's home in Gloucestershire. This is more country house in style, reminiscent of the work of David Mlinaric, so although it is still grand it feels infinitely more comfortable and less extravagant.

Oka has an abundance of cushions, vases and lamps that have this House & Garden look; its Coleridge sofa (£1,875 for a three-seater) would fit right in.

Oka's Mandarin handpainted, giant-lidded jar at £495 adds that splendid touch of chinoiserie often favoured by the royal household, while Oka's Lvliang jar is perfect for those Highgrove garden flowers at £250.

Pooky has a great selection of silk and fabric lampshades starting at £16, plus an endless array of lamp bases.

Bedroom decor

No royal bedroom is complete without a sumptuous bed - Hypnos has the royal warrant, or Perch & Parrow's Botticelli king-size bed in ash and walnut at £1,400 gets the royal look. The French Bedroom Company has a good selection of luxurious upholstered beds, from £1,000.

In episode 5 as the Queen sleeps in a fabulous bed in her private apartment at Buck House, the intruder Michael Fagan, who was a painter and decorator, is heard commenting on how the bedroom was shabby and needed a coat of paint.

Her Majesty would be well advised to purchase some chalk paint from Annie Sloan for the best chalk-based paint around.

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