King Charles’ home hides 400-year-old ‘lost’ tennis court that Shakespeare would remember

Windsor Castle is a royal home steeped in history, but a new video from the Royal Collection Trust has revealed a feature that has flown under the radar. In the social media clip posted on 8 April, a manuscript, cared for by the Royal Library, offered a glimpse of what Windsor Castle and its surroundings looked like 400 years ago. 

Inside, a map, created by professional cartographer John Norden, revealed features that have since been removed, including a tennis court King Henry VIII built at the base of the Round Tower.

Remembering the Windsor estate that once was 

According to the trust, William Shakespeare would have recognised this iteration of Windsor, the muse behind his play, The Merry Wives of Windsor, published in 1602.

Little Park, now known as Home Park, features in the play, as well as the Garter Inn, which once stood on the estate. 

Is there still a tennis court at Windsor?

Though there is no longer a tennis court in the location it was once situated in, there is one at Forest Lodge, the Prince and Princess of Wales’ family home on the estate. Kate, 44, is particularly passionate about the sport as the patron of the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club (AELTC), which hosts the Wimbledon Championships. 

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Of her interest, the princess told Sue Barker during the 2017 BBC documentary, Our Wimbledon: “I have always watched Wimbledon, that was very much part of my growing up… it inspired me when I was younger to get involved in the game.”

Alongside the Wales family’s residence, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor‘s former home, Royal Lodge, where he lived from 2004 to November 2025, is situated on the estate. 

Though King Charles doesn’t personally live at Windsor Castle, he has recently used the castle as a base for international state visits, including the French state visit in July 2025 and the American state visit in September 2025, while Buckingham Palace has undergone renovations.

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The King’s late mother, Queen Elizabeth II, did, however, live at the castle and used it as her bolthole for weekends and private escape from London, where Buckingham Palace served as her official ‘office’.

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During her historic reign, the castle underwent a huge overhaul after falling victim to a fire in 1992, which damaged nine principal rooms and over 100 other rooms. It was restored over five years to the tune of £37 million. Seventy per cent of the necessary revenue was raised from opening Buckingham Palace’s State Rooms to visitors in August and September.