Buckingham Palace’s secret swimming pool where the King wages War on Waste
Since it was first built over 85 years ago, nearly every member of the royal family has learned to swim in Buckingham Palace’s swimming pool.
It even survived a World War II bomb.
But that hasn’t stopped King Charles from joining the Times in deciding to turn down the thermostat – to save money during the fuel price crisis, but also in line with his efforts to be environmentally conscious.
Surprisingly few photos were taken of the pool, leaving it a suitable private recreation spot for the Royals.
An aerial view of Buckingham Palace showing the on-site swimming pool
Princess Elizabeth and Princess Margaret in the grounds of Windsor Castle on July 8, 1946
In the summer of 1938, architect James Jack Roberts drew up plans to build a swimming pool in the northwestern pavilion of the palace, and the swimming pool was completed in the spring of 1939.
“When Princess Elizabeth and Princess Margaret Rose recently returned to Buckingham Palace with King George VI and Queen Elizabeth of Balmoral, they found a great surprise in the grounds of the palace,” read a newspaper article dated January 14, 1939.
The report added: “The surprise was a new swimming pool, which has been built especially for the two princesses, so that next year they can have their weekly swimming lessons in their own home.”
At the time of the pool’s construction, Princess Elizabeth was already described as a “good swimmer” and had recently passed a life-saving test with honors.
“The then Princess Elizabeth showed no fear of the water either in swimming or diving and progressed to an advanced level and won a silver medal for saving lives when she was a very young girl,” said Brian Hoey in his book Not For the Corgis: Secrets of Life Behind the Royal Curtains.
Both she and Margaret swam together almost every weekend during the summer months and held races and games together at their other pool at Royal Lodge, Windsor Great Park.
But the young princesses hardly had time to enjoy their gift before World War II broke out.
On 10 September 1940, a year after the swimming pool was completed, Buckingham Palace was hit and damaged in the Blitz by a delayed action bomb.
The pool was rebuilt after the war and a new generation of royals learned to swim at Buckingham Palace, including the Queen’s four children Prince Charles, Princess Anne, Prince Andrew and Prince Edward.
A view of the gardens of Buckingham Palace where the swimming pools can also be seen
King George VI and Queen Elizabeth inspect the damage to Buckingham Palace when a time bomb, dropped by a German raider, went off on the grounds in September 1940
The front page of The Sun newspaper in 1940 when Buckingham Palace was bombed
It was also reported that Prince Philip used to swim in the lavish bath tub every day.
During his childhood, eight-year-old Prince Charles decided it was also the perfect place to sail his model boats.
His classmate, Richard Alston, told the Daily Mail: ‘We all made little model boats out of woodwork and Charles invited us to the swimming pool at Buckingham Palace to sail them. When we went to launch ours, he pulled out his replica of the Britannia. Life wasn’t fair sometimes.’
Years later, Princess Diana regularly used the pool, leaving home at 7am and driving from Kensington Palace to Buckingham Palace for a round of swimming.
In happier times, both the then Prince Charles and Princess Diana splashed in the pool and taught William and Harry how to swim.
Charles later revealed that he instilled a love of water in his eldest son from an early age.
“I threw him in the pool once,” he said. “Instead of frightening him, it excited him.”
A photograph of the Queen, then Princess Elizabeth, aged 13, who had won the Challenge Shield in the 1939 Children’s Annual Swimming Meeting at the London Bath Club
King George VI, Princess Elizabeth and Princess Margaret fetching water from a pool at the Royal Lodge at Windsor Castle in April 1942
However, it is now Prince William’s children, Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis, who enjoy Britain’s most exclusive swimming pool.
The Mail revealed in 2014 that Kate Middleton took then-year-old George for swimming lessons at Buckingham Palace’s private swimming pool.
Today, King Charles has turned down the thermostat in Buckingham Palace’s swimming pool to help reduce the royal’s energy consumption.
A source said: ‘A few people using the pool have noticed that the temperature has dropped. They’ve been told the king has turned down the heating.’
That told a source who knows the king well Sunday Times that Charles probably thinks the pool is “unhealthy for the environment because the water contains chemicals and needs to be heated.”
“It doesn’t suit his exercise regimen or his worldview.”
Royal fans may be surprised to discover that it’s not just the royal family who enjoy the privilege of bathing there. According to royal author Brian Hoey, members of the Staff Sports Club can use the pool at “certain times.”
“The rule is that if a member of staff is swimming and one of the Royals shows up, they have to get out unless they are invited to stay, which often happens,” Hoey wrote.
“If when the member of staff appears there is already a Royal in the pool, the servant, and this includes senior members such as the private secretary or keeper of the secret wallet, will not attempt to join them.”