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| '''Wales House''' is a secondary residence belonging to the {{wp|British}} royal family. It is located in the {{wp|Upstate New York|upstate New York}} region and was constructed in 1939 by [[Charles III of the United Kingdom|Charles III]], then a {{wp|Prince of Wales|''Prince of Wales''}}. | | '''Wales House''' is a secondary residence belonging to the {{wp|British}} royal family. It is located in the {{wp|Upstate New York|upstate New York}} region and was constructed in 1939 by [[Charles the Great|King Charles III]]. |
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| [[File:Wales House.jpg|thumb]] | | [[File:NYYE.jpg|thumb]] |
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| Constructed in 1939 by the orders of [[Charles III of the United Kingdom|Charles III]], then a {{wp|Prince of Wales|''Prince of Wales''}} following his voluntary exile from the {{wp|United Kingdom}}, it served as his principal residence and was initially registered as ''Clarke House'', attributing to his assumed alias, ''Robert Clarke''. By Charles's discretion, it was constructed in a moderately exclusive nature, owing both to Charles's preferred simplicity in living and his royal heritage.
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| For approximately five years after its completion, it was first occupied by [[Charles III of the United Kingdom|Charles]] and his private entourage whom would serve as the principal communicator between Charles and the {{wp|British}} government back in {{wp|London}}. On March 1945, a 21-year old {{wp|Lauren Bacall}}, Charles's then romantic interest moved in together with the former following the success of several movies in which both [[Charles III of the United Kingdom|Charles]] and {{wp|Lauren Bacall|Bacall}} were involved in. Subsequently, the estate, now renamed to ''Wales House'' was quick to receive huge publicity and media coverage from both the {{wp|American}} and the {{wp|British}} press. Despite this, it would continue to serve as the couple's primary residence until their departure for {{wp|London}} five years later in 1950. Consequently, in order to avoid the estate from being left unoccupied as a result of the couple's departure, Charles's [[Prince Charles, Duke of Clarence and Avondale|cousin]], the heir to the then [[Prince Frederick, Duke of Clarence and Avondale|Duke of Clarence and Avondale]] was invited to move in instead alongside his own {{wp|Hedy Lamarr|wife}} to serve as the estate's new residents though both [[Charles III of the United Kingdom|Charles]] and {{wp|Lauren Bacall|Bacall}} would retain their original ownership of the house.
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| Despite the couple's inability to frequently reside in their estate due to their royal obligations, it was however said to had been sparingly visited for more than a record of thirty times a year, a trend which continued until [[Charles III of the United Kingdom|Charles]]'s own death in 2011. Since then, the residence's primary ownership status, though legally being under the {{wp|Crown Estate}}, has been traditionally inherited by the sovereigns of the {{wp|United Kingdom}}, with both [[William VI of the United Kingdom|King William VI]] and [[Alexandra I of the United Kingdom|Queen Alexandra]] being the eldest descendants of their respective predecessors. In 2014, the then {{wp|Lauren Bacall|Queen Mother Lauren}} passed away while staying at the residence with her granddaughter [[Alexandra I of the United Kingdom|Alexandra]]. She was later transported back to the {{wp|United Kingdom}} in an elaborate state funeral procession, before being interred at {{wp|Westminster Abbey}} alongside her [[Charles III of the United Kingdom|husband]].
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| As of 2021, the ''Wales House'' residence is estimated to be worth approximately $125 million, or £91.4 million pounds, and has so far survived one attempted robbery which occurred in November 2020. Furthermore, since the 1950's, in addition to being a secondary residence of members of the {{wp|British}} royal family, it has also unofficially been the primary residence for the family of [[Prince Charles, Duke of Clarence and Avondale]] and his descendants.
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