On May 6, King Charles III will be crowned exactly 70 years after the coronation of his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, who reigned as Britain’s longest-serving monarch. Charles’ day will be filled with ritual, ceremony, splendor—and celebration throughout the British Commonwealth.
In honor of this royal occasion, Luxury Defined proffers a collection of charming castles and grand estates from across Europe. Consider Castle Bolenstein, a knight’s manor—by decree—built on the banks of Amsterdam’s River Vecht. Or look to Blackwater Castle, a Norman castle besieged by Sir Walter Raleigh in 1580 and Oliver Cromwell in 1649; Castello de’Medici, a defensive fortress built in the 12th century by the First Florentine Republic; or a Renaissance château listed as a French historic monument.