Prince William and Kate Middleton will be moving into a four-bedroom house on the Windsor estate with their family this summer.
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are reportedly set to uproot their family from Kensington in west London to Adelaide Cottage in Berkshire to be closer to the Queen.
Sources close to the family suggest the Cambridges were keen to be closer to the 96-year-old Queen, who has been suffering from episodic mobility issues in recent months, and also to secure a good school for their three children.
George (eight), Charlotte (seven) and Louis (four) are being pulled from their current preparatory school in Battersea and are all expected to start school locally when the new academic term starts in September.
The move also marks a fresh start for the senior royals as they further cement their place among the most influential members of The Firm.
A source told The Sun: “Kate and William were desperate for a modest home to start their new life in Windsor. Adelaide Cottage fits the bill because it’s a four bedroom house and they don’t need more as they don’t have staff living in the house.
‘They had no other pretensions than a comfortable family home close to schools and the Queen.
“They insisted they didn’t want anything too flashy or something refurbished or added security so as not to burden the taxpayer.”
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are reportedly to uproot their family from Kensington, west London, to a four-bed estate in Windsor “to be closer to the Queen”.
The four bedroom Adelaide Cottage (pictured) which has recently been refurbished and is on the Windsor estate
Adelaide Cottage is within walking distance of Windsor Castle as pictured. It is believed that William and Kate want to raise their children in the country
Sources close to the family suggest the Cambridges were keen to get closer to the 96-year-old Queen, who has suffered from episodic mobility issues in recent months. Her Majesty is photographed from the balcony of Buckingham Palace on Sunday 5 June
It is understood that the couple’s move could be completed as early as this summer.
A clear benefit of their new retreat is that it doesn’t require costly refurbishments or extra security measures, compared to his brother Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, who are spending £2.6million fixing up nearby Frogmore Cottage.
The move comes after months of speculation that the senior royals were preparing to move out of Kensington Palace, which has been their primary residence since 2017.
The couple moved there from their country home, Anmer Hall, in Norfolk, where they had previously spent much of their time. They will also keep their retreat in Norfolk, which they will “continue to use regularly”, according to the Sunday Times.
As the Mail first revealed, the couple have been planning a move to Berkshire since last year and have enrolled Prince George in a new school there, where he is expected to be joined by his siblings Charlotte and Louis this September.
William, 39, and Kate, 40, want the youngsters to grow up in the country and be closer to the Duchess’ parents, Michael and Carole Middleton, who play a hands-on role in their upbringing.
The couple have viewed several properties on the Windsor estate including Frogmore House, which is now used for royal purposes but would require a great deal of work and money to convert into a family home, and Fort Belvedere.
But Adelaide Cottage, which in recent years has been used as a house of grace and favors for royal staff and friends of the family, now seems up for grabs after Cambridge’s shortlist was reduced to one.
Nestled in the heart of the Crown Estate’s private 655-acre Royal Park, Adelaide Cottage was built in 1831 as a retreat for William IV’s wife, Queen Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen.
It was also known as Queen Victoria’s favorite home as she often ate breakfast there.
The most famous former resident, however, has to be the late Princess Margaret’s ex-boyfriend, Group Captain Peter Townsend, whose affair with the Queen’s sister sparked a national scandal.
The cottage underwent a major refurbishment in 2015, meaning the Cambridges wouldn’t have to spend millions to remodel the house.
Adelaide Cottage still has original features, including a Greco-Egyptian marble fireplace and a master bedroom with a vaulted ceiling decorated with gilded dolphins and rope ornaments reused from the royal yacht Royal George.
It also has seven gated entrances and exits to Windsor Castle, allowing the family to come and go in relative privacy.
Adelaide Cottage is just a short walk from Windsor Castle and is set in 1500 acres of grounds
Prince William and Kate Middleton were photographed with their children Prince George and Princess Charlotte at Cardiff Castle earlier this month
William and Kate chat during the Order Of The Garter Service at St
How the ghosts of Margaret’s scandalous romance still haunt Victoria’s beloved retreat, Adelaide Cottage
By Beth Hale for the Daily Mail
As far as royal residences go, Adelaide Cottage has neither the proportions nor the grandeur of its larger, more famous neighbor.
But what it lacks in stature, this picture-postcard cottage in the shadow of Windsor Castle more than makes up for in its intriguing role in one of the most iconic love affairs of the 20th century.
For in the years following the Second World War, Adelaide Cottage was Group Captain Peter Townsend’s house of grace.
He was, of course, the dashing RAF pilot and later equerry to King George VI, who would cause scandal and become Princess Margaret’s ex-lover.
When it was built by King William IV in 1831 for his wife Queen Adelaide, the cottage was a retreat for the royal couple.
Although it seemingly fell out of favor with the Queen after the death of her husband in 1837, it remained a popular destination for breakfast or tea with his successor, the young Queen Victoria.
So popular that a new private road was built for them. Not only that, her beloved King Charles Spaniel Dash was buried on the grounds.
But the most intriguing interlude in the history of the house came with the appointment of Peter Townsend to the King’s staff.
The Battle of Britain pilot was married to Rosemary and had a young son, Giles, and another, Hugo, on the way when in February 1944 he was appointed equerry to the king and granted him the use of an estate of grace and favour was granted behind a three meter high privet hedge, just a few minutes’ walk from the “office”.
Adelaide Cottage became Townsend and his wife’s first real marital home after three years of wartime marriage – although it was anything but a glamorous venture at the time.
Electricity was supplied by cables running from Windsor Castle, but the electricity was so poor it could only power a vacuum cleaner and a small electric heater at a time.
For the most part, Adelaide Cottage had sunk back into its setting in the shadow of the gray stones of Windsor Castle.
However, the four-bedroom home has a colorful past to draw from.
In the years after the Second World War, Adelaide Cottage was Group Captain Peter Townsend’s house of grace.
He was, of course, the dashing RAF pilot and later equerry to King George VI, who would cause scandal and become Princess Margaret’s ex-lover.
Townsend and his family left Adelaide Cottage in 1952 when he divorced Rosemary. However, the affair would be doomed by the Royal Marriages Act, which stated that no member of the royal family could marry a divorced woman while the ex-partner was still alive.
Since then, the cottage has hosted a host of well-connected dignitaries and courtiers, most recently Simon Rhodes, son of the Queen’s cousin and best friend Margaret Rhodes, who died in 2016.
The move to Windsor means the Cambridges will also be closer to the home of the Duchess’ parents, the Middletons, who live 45 minutes’ drive away in the village of Bucklebury.
It has long been reported that the couple could one day move into Windsor Castle. The Queen has spent much of her time at Berkshire Castle following the death of her beloved Prince Phillip.
However, it is understood that Prince Charles does not intend to spend that much time there when he becomes king.
It has previously been reported that the Prince of Wales plans to spend much of his time at Buckingham Palace during his reign.
The developments come as it was claimed today that Prince William had told the Queen and Prince Charles that he would withdraw from today’s Order of the Garter ceremony if his uncle Prince Andrew were given a public role.
The Duke of Cambridge’s alleged ultimatum to his grandmother and father reportedly resulted in the Duke of York being banned from the event at Windsor Castle amid fears the crowd might boo him.
Prince Andrew looked dejected as he headed to Windsor Castle today amid claims his absence from the Windsor Castle procession and service was a “family decision,” Buckingham Palace said, amid huge controversy over his links to Jeffrey Epstein and the alleged abuse of one of them his “sex slaves”.
Andrew was not seen in public during Garter Day, one of the most colorful events on the royal calendar, after the Prince of Wales and the Duke of Cambridge reportedly wooed the Queen to attend. The decision was clearly made in the 11th hour because Andrew’s name was on the order sheet.
A source told the Evening Standard: “The Duke of Cambridge has been adamant. If York insisted on attending publicly, he would withdraw. It would also have meant that his wife Kate would not have attended either.