Why didn't the queen live in the medieval castle?

Answer 1

The queen did live in the manor/estate/castle with her husband the king.

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The home of a king or queen was normally a palace, which was a house of regal scope and built to be comfortable for a monarch, the monarch's family and all guests. The palaces we see today are as big as castles, but without the defensive trappings but they are all of later times. Palaces were remodeled and rebuilt so often that there are no original medieval examples of royal palaces left in England (bishops' palaces exist). But the medieval palaces were designed to be first and foremost comfortable for a monarch and royal family.

Castles were built primarily for protection. Some of the larger ones were built with great halls suitable to be the homes of royal families. But the great hall was just a room like the inside of a barn, divided by partitions so people could have some amount of privacy. In most castles, there was no fireplace, and the heat came from a fire in the middle of the room, with the smoke going out through vents in the roof or high in the walls, so it was like leaving one or two large windows wide open in the winter to let the smoke out. The windows were small, the floors were made of stone, and the walls were covered with carpets so their stones would not rob you of body heat. The courtyard of a large castle was full of stables, animals, soldiers, and workshops.

To be absolutely accurate, I should make note of the fact that a very few castles had comfortable quarters built into them for the royal families. But even these were not used for long periods of time. Also there were some palaces with provisions for defense, and these, like fortified manor houses, looked rather like castles to the modern eye.

I think queens lived where they wanted to live, and that was usually a castle only if they were afraid of something.

Queen Elizabeth and the royal family have a number of palaces, chief among them: Windsor Castle, Buckingham Palace, and Holyrood House. There are numerous palaces in and near London that are still in use by members of the royal family other than the monarch and palaces that have been retired, but are open to the public as The Tower of London and Hampton Court. Please note that first on this list is Windsor Castle which is not an uninhabited ruin or abandoned castle: the royal family still spends time in Windsor Castle, a fully functional castle and palace.

Royal Palaces of Britain, Jane Struthers, c 2004,