The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are rumoured to be considering a move familiar to many young families, out of central London and into the Home Counties.
Prince William and Kate may be considering relocating from their current base in Kensington Palace to one of the Queen’s “extra” homes, Fort Belvedere in Windsor Great Park.
Royal correspondent Katie Nicholl told OK, the couple aren’t “London people” and particularly dislike the trafficky school run.
Their residence at Anmer in Norfolk is too far from London as a permanent base, says Nicholl, so Windsor would make an ideal commuter home for engagements and events. The Queen has also relocated to Windsor Castle on the same royal estate.
Nicholl says the couple feel they lack privacy at Kensington Palace, where they currently live with Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis. Several other members of the Royal family rent apartments in what has been dubbed the “Royal commune”.
Fort Belvedere, the Queen’s “forgotten castle”, was built in c.1750-55 for the Duke of Cumberland but it was enlarged and altered in the 1820s for George IV, who added an octagonal dining room and three-storey annexe. It was taken over and modernised in 1929 by Edward VIII. He signed his abdication notice at Fort Belvedere in 1936 and then moved out.
The property was empty until 1955 when the Queen’s cousin, Gerald Lascelles, moved in.
The building, which was sketched by WM Turner, is covered with turrets and crenelated walls and towers and Gothic windows, while most of the interior is decorated in the Regency style, according to the Grade II*-listed building’s listing.
If William and Kate move in it will be interesting to see what updates they might make to the interior décor of the house. They allegedly spent about £4.5 million on updating Apartment 1A at Kensington Palace, the former home of Princess Margaret who had herself installed a state-of-the-art Formica kitchen in 1960.
Other young royals have already made a move from London to Windsor. Princess Eugenie, her husband Jack Brooksbank and their baby, August, are reported to have moved from Ivy Cottage in Kensington Palace to Frogmore Cottage in Windsor.
The pretty Georgian house was formerly home to Prince Harry and Meghann Markle and was gifted to Eugenie on the condition that the Sussexes would stay with them on visits to the UK.
