It’s official, Kate and Wills are leaving behind their four-bedroom Adelaide Cottage and upsizing to the £16million Forest Lodge.
Their new abode, which they hope to move into before Christmas, is only 16 minutes up the road from their current home and sits just off Lime Avenue next to the A332.
It’s hoped to be a ‘fresh start’ for the couple after Kate’s cancer diagnosis and the pair are reportedly expecting it to be their ‘forever home’, carrying out renovations on the property out of their own pocket.
Here’s everything you need to know about Adelaide Cottage and their new residence, Forest Lodge…
Everything we know about their current home at Adelaide Cottage
The couple moved to Adelaide Cottage back in August 2022, just before the late Queen Elizabeth II passed on September 8.
It’s located right near Windsor Castle, close to St George’s Chapel, and is a grade II-building featuring a marble Graeco-Egyptian fireplace, stucco façade with elaborate pierced bargeboards, and a south entrance flanked by a pair of diagonally set chimneys with stepped bases.
The pink cottage was built back in 1831 for Queen Adelaide, the wife of King William IV, using materials from the Royal Lodge, which was built 11 years earlier.
Prior to Kate and Wills moving there with their three children George, Charlotte and Louis, the cottage was often visited by Queen Victoria for breakfast, and was home to Peter Townsend, who had a love affair with Princess Margaret.
It became a fancy guesthouse, similar to Frogmore Cottage where the Sussex’s lived before they moved to Montecito. The Prince and Princess of Wales have no live-in help at Adelaide Cottage in an effort to lead a private life.
The Sun reported Kate and Wills living there was designed to ‘test life in Windsor and see if it worked for them as a family’. After three years in the property, the couple are now moving on.
Where is Kate and Wills’ new home, Forest Lodge?
The eight-bedroom grade II listed property, nestled in the 4,800-acre Windsor Great Park, was built in the 1770s and is just four miles from their current home.
Originally known as Holly Grove, it became part of the Royal Estate in 1829 when George IV purchased it. It was then renamed to Forest Lodge in 1937.
The royal couple put in for planning permission to make modest internal and external renovations back in June, including new doors and windows, removing internal walls, altering the ceilings and adding new floors.
It was last renovated in 2001 for £1.5million and was then valued at £5.5million, although according to house price rises, it is estimated to be worth around £16million today.
It boasts a red brick cellar, an original slate roof, six chimneys and nine bay windows. However, it’s still half the size of the 31-bedroom Royal Lodge Prince Andrew resides in, just 10 minutes down the road.
It’s also a short drive from Cumberland Lodge which houses an educational charity currently, however since being built in the 17th century it’s housed the Keeper of the Privy Purse, and even third son of King George II, the Duke of Cumberland.
What does Forest Lodge look like inside?
Funding Forest Lodge
While you might assume the taxpayer will be footing the renovation bill for Forest Lodge, you’d be wrong.
Any work carried out on the property will come out of the couples pockets, instead of from the Sovereign Grant, which provides funding for the monarchy.
They will also be paying market rent on the property, which was worth £15,000 a month back in 2001, meaning it would now be significantly more.
Prince William’s income comes from the Duchy of Cornwall, which is an estate covering land in south-west England, worth £1billion – it’s made him £22.9million in profit this year.
This wasn’t the approach Harry and Meghan took when they moved into Frogmore Cottage and spent £2.4million of taxpayers money, although Harry has since repaid the amount in full.
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