清代的王府，是北京除紫禁城、皇家园林外，最具清代特色的建筑，是北京历史文化的重要组成部分。有清一代，有赖于崇高的政治地位与所属的经济特权，不少王府煊赫一时。然而，伴随着晚清帝国主义势力的入侵，清廷原有的统治秩序受到了冲击，王府也因此整体走向衰落。

在诸多王府之中，宣统元年（1909年）起为监国摄政王载沣修建的摄政王府的命运十分独特。摄政王府位于中海迤西的集灵囿地区，其选址与兴建同宣统年间权力的洗牌有密切关联，其规模布局之宏大与陈设内饰之奢华，也反映出载沣身具“皇帝生父”与“监国摄政王”双重身份的崇高地位。

然而，在摄政王府第工程尚未告竣时，清朝即已灭亡，载沣随即辞退监国摄政王之位，以醇亲王退归藩邸。摄政王府第所有工程交由内务府专管苑囿的机构奉宸苑收管，在清帝退位后直接被中华民国临时政府所接收。在民初府院之争的背景下，摄政王府几番轮转，先后成为国务院与总统府的办公署地，其所属权的变动也与时局的频繁变化及当权者的政治经历、个人偏好息息相关。

南京国民政府成立之后，伴随着国都南迁，摄政王府由从前国家中央机关的办公地，降为河北省省府，而后成为北平市市政府所在地，王府的归属又涉及到国民党各派系对华北权力的规划。北平沦陷后，北平市政府所在的摄政王府一度成为伪北京市政府的办公地，在光复之后又得以回归。

1949年1月北平和平解放后，集灵囿的摄政王府也被人民解放军接收，作为北京人民政府的办公地点。中华人民共和国成立之后，中央人民政府政务院迁往此地办公。自此，摄政王府再次成为国家最高中央机关的办公所在地。

不同于摄政王府因大部分时间都整体作为国家或地方机关的公署使用而得以保留整体面貌，民国时期的大多清王府都频繁改易主人，零拆整卖，支离破碎。这与辛亥鼎革之后，依照隆裕太后懿旨，王公府邸由官产变为王公私产有关。失去了政治特权与经济特权的王府后人，不得不租售府第以维持生计。王府或被军阀占有，或被售予外国商人与教会。

由于王府被划为王公私产，各王府建筑也错过了北平特别市政府在20世纪30年代对市内文物古建的大规模修缮。大多数王府后来被不断地拆改、添建，多数已失原貌，甚至被夷为平地。

随着王权的衰落与王府体制的解体，王府由过去宗室王公的权力符号逐步降维，越来越回归建筑本身的功用。伴随着清王朝的覆灭和王府的衰落，王府文化也逐渐沉淀下移，并形塑了老北京的城市气质与社会风尚。

Besides the Forbidden City and the royal gardens, the Princes’ Mansions are the most distinctive building in Beijing, which have formed important parts of Beijing's history and culture. In the Qing Dynasty, by virtue of the political status and economic privileges, many Princes’ Mansions were famous in specific periods. However, with the invasion of the imperialist forces in the late Qing Dynasty, the original ruling order of the Qing government was impacted, and the Princes’ Mansions also declined.

The Regent’s Palace is located on the west of Zhong Hai and built for Tsai Feng in 1909. Among all the Princes’ Mansions, it was unique for its close relation to the reshuffle of power during the Xuan Tong period. Its shape and the interior decoration also reflected the status of Tsai Feng as the "Father of The Emperor" and "The Regent of the State".

Nevertheless, before the project of the Regent's Palace was completed, the Qing Dynasty had collapsed. Tsai Feng dismissed the “Regent” title and returned to his mansion as Prince Chun. Then all the engineering of the Regent's Palace was handed over to Feng Chen Yuan, and later was directly taken over by the Provisional Government of the Republic of China. Influenced by the dispute between the President and the Premier in the early Republic of China, the Regent's Palace had repeatedly become the office of the State Council or the Presidential Office. Indeed, the changes of its ownership were closely related to the frequent alternations of the current situation and the political experiences and personal preferences of the potentates.

After the capital had moved to Nanjing, the Regent's Palace reduced from the former Office of the central government to the provincial capital of Hebei Province, and then became the seat of the Peking Municipal Government. The ownership of the palace also involved the power structure of the KMT in North China. Later, with the fall of Peking, the Regent's palace of Peking Municipal Government once became the office of "Beijing Municipal Government" of Japanese colonists, but was returned back after Japan had surrendered.

Following the liberation of Peking in January 1949, the Regent's Palace in Ji Ling You became the office of the Beijing People's Government. And when the People's Republic of China was established, Government Administration Council of the Central People's Government moved to this place to work. Since then, the Regent's Palace has once again become the office of the state's highest central organ.

Different from the Regent's Palace, which was always used as a public office of the state or local authorities, most of the Qing Dynasty's mansions changed its owner frequently, either sold in pieces, or fragmented in modern Chinese history. After the Revolution of 1911, demanded by the order of Long Yu, the Princes’ Mansions changed from official property to private property. The descendants of the royal family, who lost their political and economic privileges, had to rent or sell their Mansions to make a living. The palace was also occupied by warlords, or sold to foreign merchants and churches.

As the Princes’ Mansions were classified as private property, the buildings of each palace missed the large-scale repair for the city's cultural relics and ancient buildings by the Peking Special Municipal Government in the 1930s. Henceforth, the majority of the Princes’ Mansions were continually demolished and renovated, which made them lost their original appearance, or even be completely destroyed.

Along with the decline of the royal power and the disintegration of the royal government system, the royal government has gradually reduced its dimension from the power symbol of the patriarchal princes in the past, and recovered the function of the building itself. And impacted by the collapse of the Qing Dynasty and the decline of the Princes’ Mansions, the culture of Princes’ Mansions gradually moved down and shaped the social custom of old Beijing.