Windlesham Moor main entrance at Sunninghill Road, North Windlesham - geograph,org

Windlesham Moor is a

country house An English country house is a large house or mansion in the English countryside. Such houses were often owned by individuals who also owned a town house. This allowed them to spend time in the country and in the city—hence, for these peop ...

and, for a time in the 20th century a royal residence, at

Windlesham Windlesham is a village in the Surrey Heath borough of Surrey, England, approximately south west of central London. Its name derives from the Windle Brook, which runs south of the village into Chobham, and the common suffix 'ham', the Old Engli ...

in the English county of

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant ur ...

. In its capacity as a royal residence, it was, for nearly two years in the late 1940s, the home of Princess (later Queen) Elizabeth and her husband

Philip, Duke of Edinburgh Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (born Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark, later Philip Mountbatten; 10 June 1921 – 9 April 2021) was the husband of Queen Elizabeth II. As such, he served as the consort of the British monarch from E ...

History

Philip Hill bought the Victorian home and grounds in a state of disrepair in 1942 for £40,000 (). Later the Royal Family bought the renovated Sunninghill Park house and park from Hill. He renovated the house in 1944. It was rented furnished from his widow, Mrs. Warwick Bryant, for Princess Elizabeth and

between 1947 and 4 July 1949. The house has by design four reception rooms including a reception hall, dining room, a drawing room, and a Chinese room. Other room names during the royal tenure included a study, games room, and loggia and five main bedrooms. The nursery comprised two guest rooms joined. The house bore with it , largely of light woodland in the acidic heath of Surrey Heath on the elevated

Bagshot Formation In geology, the Bagshot Beds are a series of sands and clays of shallow-water origin, some being fresh-water, some marine. They belong to the upper Eocene formation of the London and Hampshire basins, in England and derive their name from Bagsh ...

(Bagshot sands).

Neighbours

To the north and west is (in Berkshire) part of

Swinley Forest Swinley Forest is a large expanse of Crown Estate woodland managed by Forestry England mainly within the civil parishes of Windlesham in Surrey and Winkfield and Crowthorne in Berkshire, England. Coverage Situated to the south-west of Winds ...

lying in the Crown Estate, separated by the Ascot to Guildford Line from its heart. To the south is Erl Wood Manor European

research laboratory A research institute, research centre, research center or research organization, is an establishment founded for doing research. Research institutes may specialize in basic research or may be oriented to applied research. Although the term often im ...

established in 1967 for Eli Lilly and Company, a USA-based pharmaceutical company. To the south-west corner across the minor train line is a private racecourse and to the east are smallholdings and gardens of detached homes such as Windlesham Hill Farm which is divided into three. A 21st-century care home has been established on part of the former farm.

Present

The house was acquired by Sheikh

Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum ( ar, حمدان بن راشد أل مكتوم, '; 25 December 1945 – 24 March 2021) was an Emirati politician, the deputy ruler of Dubai and the minister of finance and industry of the United Arab Emirates ...

, who carried out significant renovation and extensions, added a security gatehouse in 2002, and included the houses "Winklands" and "Rose Cottage" into the estate. From July to September) Al Maktoum, his family, and other Arab dignitaries live in the house. Occasionally the Sheikh's guests live there at other times. The property is maintained by property managers, gardeners and security personnel. A painting of the house and gardens circa 1934, attributed to

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 during the Second World War, and again from ...

, was discovered and sold at auction in September 2008.

References

{{Royal palaces in the United Kingdom Country houses in Surrey Royal residences in England