Moroccan King’s Secret French Château: Inside Mohammed VI’s Historic Oise Estate

In the 1970s, King Hassan II had fallen under the charm of the Château de Betz, built by Princess Marie-Catherine de Brignole of Monaco in the 19th century, then bought by a wealthy bourgeois just before World War I because of its garden classified since 1991 as a national heritage and considered the 3rd most beautiful English garden in France, composed of beech, birch and oak trees. The late king became the owner in 1972. After his death, his son who succeeds him inherits this secondary residence that has become his favorite vacation spot. Neither tourists nor even the inhabitants of the small village of Betz can enter the castle, reports Le Point. And the domestic staff from the region who work there and are generously paid are bound by a confidentiality obligation. The French magazine reports that they all sign a confidentiality agreement prohibiting them from disclosing any detail of his private life, his property and his property.

Only the royal family knows the full beauty and wealth of this 70-hectare estate, located about sixty kilometers from Paris. Its architecture is similar to that of the villas on the Normandy coast with half-timbered facades and large bay windows. Its interior, on the other hand, is a bit more exotic, "bathed in an oriental atmosphere as appreciated by Mohammed VI who occupies it today." "Sleeping cars from the European Grand Express trains" would also be installed on the property, by King Hassan II, to pay tribute to his father Mohammed V "with whom he had traveled in these trains". The castle would also include a nuclear shelter, as well as a horse boarding school for the sovereign’s thoroughbreds.