Kate Middleton and Prince William’s new home is stunningly different to their last one

The Prince and Princess of Wales set themselves a challenging task last year by moving house just weeks before Christmas . After a difficult few years in their former home of Adelaide Cottage, Kate, William and the children have relocated their primary residence to the eight-bedroom, Grade II listed Forest Lodge, which many believe will be their “forever home”. “It marks the beginning of a new chapter in their life,” says royal biographer and broadcaster Katie Nicholl. “It feels like the perfect fit for them and the Palace seem to be making it clear that this is where they’re going to base themselves for the coming years." “It’s conveniently close to Windsor, and close enough to London for when they need to be there for work. It’s also closer to Kate’s parents, who we know are such an important part of their lives. They seem to prefer smaller residences; homes that offer a more intimate family setting than giant, ostentatious palaces. Forest Lodge isn’t a small property, but it isn’t on the same scale as Apartment 1A at Kensington Palace, for example.” Forest Lodge is owned by the Crown Estate and, as such, the prince and princess funded the move privately and will cover the rent from their personal wealth. The red-brick mansion was originally built in the 1770s, but has been altered and extended over the years. Plans were submitted and approved last summer for more “minor internal and external alterations”. While cameras have rarely been granted access to William and Kate’s private residences, Kate’s recent health update videos provided a few glimpses of the cosy atmosphere they cherish at Anmer Hall, their home in Norfolk – an aesthetic that may provide the inspiration for their new residence. “We can just imagine that Forest Lodge will be a home with muddy boots outside, dogs and kids running in and out of the garden, something lovely cooking on the stove and probably kitchen surfaces covered in flour from one of the baking sessions they love,” Katie says. “They may not have allowed cameras in, but they have painted us some wonderful pictures over the years that allow us to imagine what it is like. At Anmer Hall, there is very little around there, so they can go out for long family walks together and are left very much to themselves. It affords them the peace and privacy that they absolutely love, so I would imagine they will be hoping to emulate this at Forest Lodge.” The couple’s various relocations over the years reflect their different stages of life, most notably their move into the grandiose Apartment 1A at Kensington Palace in 2013. While officially described as “an apartment,” 1A is a 20-room residence occupying an entire four-storey wing of Kensington Palace. This historic building was the birthplace of Queen Victoria and has served as a home for figures such as Princess Margaret and Princess Diana . Prior to the arrival of the then Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and their newborn son Prince George , the property underwent a huge £4.5 million renovation, ridding it of some of the outdated features of the past, and introducing softer neutral fabrics, classic wallpapers and a more practical way of living. The move into 1A came at an important time for Kate in particular, who had spent the first few months of George’s life living in a rented seaside cottage on the Bodorgan Estate in Anglesey, Wales, where William was working as an RAF Search and Rescue Pilot. The move to 1A offered them a lifeline to nearby friends and family, following what Kate once described as a rather lonely existence for her and George in Wales. “It was the first year and I’d just had George – William was still working with search and rescue and we came up here and I had a tiny tiny baby in the middle of Anglesey,” she said of those early weeks of motherhood. “It was so isolated, so cut off.” After almost a decade at the Kensington Palace apartment, the family moved again, this time in search of “more green space” in Windsor. They chose the rather modest Adelaide Cottage, a four-bedroom home set within the 655-acre Windsor Home Park. Built in 1831, the cottage was named after King William IV’s wife, Queen Adelaide, who used the residence as a summer retreat. While far smaller than Apartment 1A, the property met the couple’s evolving needs by offering complete privacy with its dense, hedge-lined gardens and essential access to nearby schools for George, Charlotte, and Louis. Additionally, the location was much closer to Kate’s parents’ home in Bucklebury, Berkshire. “When they first moved to Adelaide Cottage, people close to them were saying they could have chosen something bigger that would have enabled them to have live-in staff, but they didn’t want that,” says royal expert Richard Palmer. “They wanted a more normal, upper middle-class home with just enough bedrooms for them and their children, but not enough space for a nanny to live in because they just wanted to be a family unit. They didn’t and still don’t want all the paraphernalia that goes with being senior members of the royal family . “Kate always felt uncomfortable living inside royal compounds, as if she was living inside a goldfish bowl. Obviously people would recognise them and that was difficult for her.” Another cherished sanctuary for the family is Anmer Hall, their 1802 10-bedroom Georgian mansion on the Sandringham Estate in Norfolk. It was presented to the couple by Queen Elizabeth II as a wedding gift, and has become a true home away from home for the family. They spent much of the first Covid lockdown at Anmer Hall, making the most of the property’s tennis court, swimming pool and extensive mature gardens. It was the Sandringham Estate that Kate chose as the backdrop for her video update in September 2024. In the footage, she spoke about having a “renewed sense of hope and appreciation of life” following her successful cancer treatment. “They absolutely love Norfolk, which is why she went there to recover from her surgery and chemotherapy,” Katie says. “It’s clearly a very, very special place to them. They love the nature, wild beaches, forest walks, and they also have a lot of friends around Anmer Hall, as do their children, so they’re very sociable there.” The late Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip enjoyed many stays at Wood Farm, a countryside retreat described by a former housekeeper as “small and intimate”. According to Richard, the late Duke of Edinburgh and the Queen often chose the farm over “opening up the big house at Sandringham.” Prince Philip eventually made it his permanent home during his retirement. “There are some real similarities between what Kate and William are doing at Forest Lodge and what the late Queen and Prince Philip did with Wood Farm,” Richard notes. “They preferred the lodge to Sandringham House to avoid unnecessary space and fuss. “It wouldn’t be a huge surprise if Kate and William actually chose to spend more time at Forest Lodge than at the palaces once they become King and Queen,” Richard adds. “This raises the question of what the royal family should do with all those grand buildings, but this is something William is no doubt already thinking about.”