grace and favour

English

Etymology

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Noun

grace and favour (uncountable)

  1. (British, as a modifier to a form of accommodation) Owned by the sovereign or government and granted free of rent to a person as an expression of gratitude or obligation.
    • 2005, Nigel R. Jones, Architecture of England, Scotland, and Wales, page 127:
      In 1986 a fire began in a grace-and-favour apartment above the King's Apartments in the south Wren wing.
    • 2023 September 1, Aubrey Allegretti, “‘She’s totally lost it’: inside story of the unravelling of Liz Truss’s premiership”, in The Guardian‎, →ISSN:
      In the days before she formally stepped down, Truss held farewell parties for her supporters at the prime ministerial grace-and-favour mansion of Chequers.
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