the new royal palace was built in the backyard of a former royal residence. this former residence was actually a connected row of houses. in 1835 the prince of orange bought these houses behind the church of saint denis from a family called frankenhoff and had them rebuilt into a sober palace. when william succeeded his father as king of the netherlands in 1840 the palace didn’t have the royal quality befitting his new status. a new palace had to be constructed. the former palace was demolished in 1847.