Many people weren’t paying attention when Prince William and Kate spent more than a year – spring 2021 through late summer 2022 – publicly appealing for Charles to give them a big royal property somewhere in Windsor or Berkshire. They hated living in London, and they were house-hunting for private properties in Berkshire, they were checking out all of the properties on the Royal Windsor estate. For a while, I really thought that they would end up in Fort Belvedere, which is part of the Royal Windsor estate. William and Kate probably thought they would end up there too, or at least they thought they would be given one of the larger properties.
By the very end of the summer of 2022, they finally moved into Adelaide Cottage, which is not one of the grander properties on the estate. It was definitely kind of an insult to W&K that they were given Adelaide, a four-bedroom without “servants’ quarters.” Even before QEII passed away, it was widely believed that Adelaide would be a temporary placement and that Will and Kate would be “getting” Windsor Castle soon enough. Then Charles became king and instead of allowing Will and Kate to move into Windsor Castle, he told them to just stay put in that cramped cottage. It’s hilarious. Now William is throwing weekly tantrums about how he desperately needs Royal Lodge, his uncle’s property. All of which brings me to this story – Will and Kate are “resigned” to living in the cramped Adelaide Cottage for the time being.
Prince William and Kate have resigned to living in “too small” Adelaide Cottage for the foreseeable future – despite reportedly eyeing up Andrew’s Royal Lodge. The couple have been living in the cottage on the Windsor Estate with children George, Charlotte and Louis since moving in less than a year ago from Anmer Hall in Norfolk.
But plans by King Charles to downsize the family’s property – and news Prince Andrew is being asked to leave his £30million mansion – has thrown things into question. While the Lodge was at one point reportedly earmarked for the young family of five, OK! reports they are now accepting that they’ll be staying at Adelaide despite it being too cramped for them.
A source has explained that despite the questions hovering around Royal Lodge and the costs needed to repair it, the Duke of York was provided for in Queen Elizabeth’s will and, as a result, has been able to come up with the money to make essential repairs.
“The Palace originally wanted Andrew out of Royal Lodge so that the property could be renovated and prepared for new lodgers,” the source said. “The Prince and Princess of Wales desperately want a larger property for their family in the Windsor area and discussions were originally focused on putting them in there. However, Andrew was having none of it and is adamant that he will see out the end of his lease at Royal Lodge.”
A Kensington Palace source added: “William and Kate love the cottage but it’s just too small for them. There are four bedrooms which just about fit them all in but there are other things that need to be considered. Staff and other elements need to be factored in. It is also meant to be a working residence and there isn’t room to facilitate an office or hold more than a few guests at a time. They were looking for a larger home but have now resigned themselves to the fact that they will be stuck in the cottage due to other properties not opening up for them.”
[From The Daily Mirror]
What’s genuinely bonkers is thinking about the extensive real estate holdings of the Duchy of Cornwall, and how William could simply move his family into any of the residential real estate holdings. Of course, I understand the idea that they want to be near the kids’ school, they want to be in the Windsor area and they want a certain level of security. But again, there are other homes within the Royal Windsor estate. It really feels like King Charles has just been refusing to allow W&K to move into any of the bigger, grander homes. Out of spite? Or something else? In any case, I love this – they thought they were so clever, they thought they would be moving into Windsor Castle within months of QEII’s passing. Not so much.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.
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