A townhouse fit for royalty is available to rent in the Mayfair area of London for the princely sum of £25,000 a week.
The six-bedroom house has 864 square metres of accommodation, including grand reception rooms, a double-height atrium, a passenger lift, library, gym and private roof terrace, plus a connected mews house with a triple garage.
The home in Charles Street was built in 1753 as a grand five-storey Georgian townhouse but remodelled in the 1820s for Prince William, Duke of Clarence, who went on to become King William IV.
William was the third son of King George III, and the youngest brother of King George IV, who ascended the throne in 1820. He was also the uncle of Queen Victoria.
He had entered the Royal Navy aged 13, became a friend of future naval hero Horatio Nelson and was given the nickname "the sailor king".
However, his life was not all smooth sailing as he fell out with his colleagues and his father over his personal life, fathering 10 children out of wedlock with Irish actress Dorothea Jordan.
By 1818, he was married to Princess Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen and behaving more respectably.
He and Adelaide had lived at Bushy House in Teddington, south-west London, but with his enhanced status as brother to the king, the Royal household acquired 22 Charles Street for them. It was upgraded and expanded to include attic storeys for staff.
Despite the work, the couple only lived there for a few years. When the heir to the throne, his other brother, Prince Frederick, died, he needed an even grander base.
William moved to an even larger property next to St James’s Palace, where he commissioned renowned architect John Nash to build what is now Clarence House, King Charles III’s favoured home in London.
A blue heritage plaque at 22 Charles Street says William lived there in 1826, but his time there actually spanned 1825-27, as it was a handy base to oversee construction at Clarence House.
Once he moved up the property ladder, 22 Charles Street remained a private home.
It is now on the rental market for £1.3 million a year, offering the chance to walk in royal footsteps.
Peter Wetherell, founder and chairman of letting agent Wetherell, said: “This magnificent mansion is one of the finest townhouses in Mayfair and has unrivalled provenance.
"The beautiful Regency reception rooms once hosted a young Queen Victoria, and today with the double-height atrium reception room and glass-floored roof garden and top-floor roof terrace, the house offers ample accommodation for family gatherings and large parties, both indoors and al fresco.”
