Parliament bought Wellington an estate, and the 7th Duke gave Apsley House to the nation in 1947 while keeping a family flat

On 23 June 1815, five days after Waterloo, the Commons agreed without dissent to a further grant of up to £200,000 for the Duke of Wellington's house, on top of sums already voted. Totals for the estate money are given as £600,000 to £700,000. The 1815 estate act set a condition: the Duke and his heirs hold the estate by presenting a tricolour flag to the monarch at Windsor each 18 June. Trustees bought Stratfield Saye in Hampshire, about 5,000 acres, in 1817. The planned Waterloo Palace was dropped in 1821 as too costly. In 1817 Wellington also bought Apsley House from his brother Richard for £40,000. At Vitoria in June 1813 his army took Spanish royal paintings from Joseph Bonaparte's baggage train. Ferdinand VII later let him keep them^†. In 1947 the 7th Duke gave the house and its main contents to the nation. The Wellington Museum Act 1947 keeps a family residence there "so long as there is a Duke of Wellington". English Heritage has run the museum since 2004. In 2026 Charles Wellesley, 9th Duke, keeps an apartment at Apsley House. After hereditary peers lost their seats, he was made Baron Wellington of Stratfield Saye for life by letters patent of 1 June 2026.