The Shugborough estate was owned by the Bishops of Lichfield until the dissolution of the monasteries around 1540, and thereafter passed through several hands, until it was purchased in 1624 by William Anson (c.1580–1644), a lawyer, of Dunston, Staffordshire for £1,000.

[3] William's elder son, Thomas Anson MP (1695-1773), would further extend the house in the 1740s, adding two pavilions flanking either side of the central block.

[3] Thomas also died childless and the estate passed to his sister's son, George Adams, who adopted the surname Anson by royal licence.

The Earl led an extravagant lifestyle and amassed several large debts, which, in 1842, forced him to sell the entire contents of the house in a two-week-long sale.

While Thomas George Anson, 2nd Earl of Lichfield did much to restore the house and contents to its former glory, by the time his son inherited the estate it was heavily mortgaged.

The young princess stayed with many local landowners at the time, including John Talbot, 16th Earl of Shrewsbury.

The drive to the hall is carried over the tunnel by a bridge, about 380 yards (350 m) north-west of the Lichfield Lodge, which also dates from 1847 and also listed at grade II.

The estate was immediately leased to Staffordshire County Council, who managed and maintained it on behalf of the National Trust, with Patrick Anson, 5th Earl of Lichfield retaining an apartment in the hall until his death in 2005, paying a nominal rent to the new owners.

[9] The Verandah Room contains a 208-piece porcelain dinner service commissioned to commemorate Admiral Anson's circumnavigation of the globe in HMS Centurion.

The dinner service was offered to Admiral Anson in gratitude for assisting in fighting the huge fires that were destroying the merchant district in Canton.

The pavilions and passages were incorporated into the main building, and a new porticoed entrance front with ten Ionic pillars was created at the east.

The land around Shugborough was largely flat, which ensured that trees, follies and water would play an important role in shaping the landscape.