By royal standards, anyway, the Prince and Princess of Wales’ four-bedroom home, Adelaide Cottage—located on the Windsor Estate—is relatively modest. They moved into the property right around this time last year, when they left Apartment 1A in Kensington Palace (don’t let the “apartment” fool you—it is gigantic) in London for the more secluded, kid-friendly Adelaide Cottage at Windsor.
The couple also has another property that is their favorite home—their country retreat, Anmer Hall, on the Sandringham Estate in Norfolk. Once a wedding gift from Her late Majesty, William, Catherine, and their three children Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis enjoy spending time there to get away from it all, getting their hands dirty and Catherine reportedly enjoying playing tennis on the court installed on the property.
Hello reports that William and Catherine have been spotted at various places around the home in various years, but that its ultimate draw is how private it is. While there, the family can be somewhat normal; Catherine once took her three kids to do pottery painting at a place called Mabel’s Paint Pot in Burnham Market, “and it seems the ceramics store and traditional sweet shop is a favorite of the royals,” Hello reports.
“Kate is a regular at Mable’s Paint Pot,” a source told the outlet. “She always pops in with the children and nobody pays any attention. That’s why she likes it so much here. They consider Norfolk their real home, and it’s because everybody treats them totally normally here and lets them get on with their lives.”
The family of five are currently on summer break, ahead of the kids’ return to school at Lambrook on September 6. In addition to heading out to the royal family’s traditional end-of-summer retreat, Balmoral, the Waleses are likely going to spend time at Anmer Hall, as they do whenever they can—including visiting Norfolk’s beaches.
“They’ve been spotted on a yacht just off Holkham Beach,” a local said. “It’s the perfect way for them to be able to enjoy the beach but be away from the crowds. Holkham is amazing—it’s the beach from Shakespeare in Love—huge, white sand with sand dunes, and although it’s very popular it never feels busy, as it’s so big. But even still, it would be hard for the royal family to come down and enjoy it during peak summer season. Being on a boat gives them privacy and security, but they still get to enjoy their local beach.”
For context, if you remember William and Catherine’s family video to mark their tenth wedding anniversary in 2021, Holkham Beach features prominently, where they are seen playing on the sands, walking in the countryside, and toasting marshmallows, Hello reports.
The Waleses pop over to Anmer Hall over the summer but they’re also on the property at Christmas, as the royal family typically spends the holiday at the Sandringham Estate (where Anmer Hall is located). The Georgian house has 10 bedrooms, and the couple used Anmer Hall as their main residence until 2017. At the time, William was stationed as an air ambulance pilot for the East Anglian Air Ambulance, and Georg attended the nearby Westacre Montessori School. Charlotte also spent her earliest years there before the family relocated to Kensington Palace not long before Louis was born.
