As William and Kate continue to make themselves at home in Windsor, they have recently opened a play park for children on the grounds of Windsor Great Park, to a decidedly mixed reception. While the charming park, known as Adventure Play, boasts several quaint wooden playhouses, raised walkways, slides and other recreational equipment, the royal couple is getting slammed for the steep pricing. Click or scroll on to find out more about the controversial park...
Adventure Play is just a stone's throw away from Adelaide Cottage, where the Prince and Princess of Wales live with their three children, George, Charlotte and Louis. However, there's seemingly a high price to play in the royal neighbourhood. Parents are being charged £12 ($16) admittance, while for children between the ages of two and 17, the cost of entry is £16 ($21). What’s more, these fees cover one play session, which lasts only two hours. For two parents and two children to enjoy a trip to the park, the bill would come in at a staggering £56 ($73). The royals have been accused of insensitivity in light of the national cost of living crisis and the UK's nationwide struggle with inflation, rising rents and mortgages.
According to Adventure Play’s website, the park offers “play like you remember it – getting close to nature, challenging the body and stimulating the senses.” The website also stresses: “All are welcome, whatever their age, need or ability.” However, given the steep price point, it's unsurprising that many feel the park is inaccessible and somewhat elitist. While the new play complex is not managed or run by the Prince and Princess, Windsor Great Park is part of the Crown Estate, so it remains to be seen if the royals will take steps to ameliorate the public displeasure…
Read on to discover the palaces and properties that the royal couple have called home...
Following the coronation of his father, King Charles III, Prince William has embraced his role as heir to the throne, and with his new position, he has inherited a vast fortune and become one of England’s biggest landowners. As the new Prince of Wales and Duke of Cornwall, he inherited the Duchy of Cornwall, a vast estate that spans some 20 counties, with assets valued at nearly £1 billion ($1.3bn). As he and his wife Catherine, Princess of Wales, balance the responsibilities of the crown with raising a young family in Windsor, let’s take a closer look at the places the royal couple have called home through the years...
Like his father, Prince William has had a long time to prepare for his new position and his responsibilities now include an estate that brought in a reported £21 million ($28m) in 2021. The Duchy of Cornwall's portfolio includes housing developments, holiday cottages, farms, woodland, coastlines and a third of Dartmoor National Park including its notorious prison, as well as Poundbury, the model village that King Charles began building in 1993. The Duchy also owns Highgrove House and most of the land on the Isles of Scilly. But where did it all begin for the Prince?
So let's start at the beginning. The Prince was born on 21 June 1982, a year after the then Prince Charles and Princess Diana took up residence in Apartments 8 and 9 in Kensington Palace following their fairytale wedding at St Paul’s Cathedral. Purchased by William III as a country retreat in 1689, the palace has been home to many royals, including Queen Victoria and Princess Margaret, and remains the London base of the Prince and Princess of Wales, although their permanent home is now at Windsor.
This family photograph was taken in the living room of their Kensington Palace apartment. A much-loved son, Prince William is now heir apparent or direct heir to the throne. No surprise, then, that he lived in a palace fit for a king, surrounded by sumptuous furnishings and paintings in gilt frames. The apartment is located within the quadrangle that sits between Clock Court and Ivy Cottage, and is one of several royal apartments within the palace.
Princess Diana turned the apartments into a comfy family home, converting the entire top floor into a playroom and two bedrooms. She enlisted the help of interior designer Dudley Poplak and kitted them with furnishings from luxury children’s design company Dragons. The palace became even more of a playground for the young Prince when his little brother Prince Harry came along two years later on 15 September 1984.
As the new head of the Duchy of Cornwall, the Prince has inherited Highgrove House, the property and gardens that his father spent the past 40 years transforming into a verdant paradise. The young Prince and his family split their time between Kensington Palace and their Windsor cottage, so they have no plans to move in. Instead, King Charles and Queen Camilla will continue to use the house as tenants.
Highgrove House was an exciting place for the young princes to grow up and they were free to roam in the surrounding countryside. Countless pictures, like this one taken in July 1986, depict the boys enjoying themselves in the meadows adjoining the house. In many ways, the house represents the innocence of childhood, before Princes William and Harry became all too aware of life in the constant glare of the media.
Like most members of the royal family, the Prince was encouraged to start riding almost as soon as he could walk. Here he is at Highgrove House in 1986 with his Shetland pony, Smokey, the royal family’s choice of breed for a child’s debut in the saddle. The Prince has also encouraged his own children to ride, and is reported to have borrowed his cousin Zara Tindall’s Shetland pony when Prince George was four.
The Prince of Wales spent every Christmas of his childhood at Sandringham House in Norfolk, which was one of the late Queen’s favourite properties. She would remain at the house every year until early February, to pay homage to her father King George VI, who passed away there on 6 February 1952. The house dates back to Elizabethan times and was a gift from Queen Victoria to her son, the future King Edward VII.
Once described as "the most comfortable house in England", it was one of the first in the country to boast gas lighting, flushing toilets and working showers. Sandringham has a somewhat more relaxed feel, compared to most regal residences. The ground floor is decorated in elegant Edwardian style, with a roaring hearth taking centre stage in this reception room. Sandringham is normally open to the public when the royals aren't in residence.
Much of the land that makes up the Isles of Scilly is owned and managed by the Prince under the Duchy. It's an ideal place to take his three children on holiday and will no doubt bring back happy memories of visiting the isles himself with his brother Harry and his parents. The family is seen here setting off for a bike ride in Tresco in 1989.
The Prince and Princess of Wales have the option to stay in this modest four-bedroom bungalow that King Charles bought when he was a 20-year-old bachelor in 1969. The property was named after the tamarisk shrubs that encircle it. In 2016, the King was granted approval to transform the bungalow into a chocolate-box cottage, though the revamp didn't go down well with everyone.
A local councillor voted against the renovation of the 1960s property. Echoing criticism of some of Charles' other pet projects such as Poundbury and Knockroon, the council member described the revamp as a “pastiche”. In any case, the project went ahead and the property is now available to rent out.
Following his father's rise to the throne, the Prince also took on his Scottish titles. The Prince and Princess of Wales are now known as the Duke and Duchess of Rothesay in Scotland and William will be titled the Earl of Carrick, Baron of Renfrew, Lord of the Isles and Prince and Great Steward of Scotland. It will give new significance to his annual stays at Balmoral Castle in the Highlands of Scotland, which has been a royal residence since 1852.
The Prince of Wales has been spending part of his summer at Balmoral since he was a child, a tradition he has continued with his own family to the present day. In years gone by, it was a great opportunity for the Prince to spend quality time with the late Queen, who is seen here in a family photograph with seven of her great-grandchildren and the late Prince Philip, taken by the Duchess of Cambridge in 2018 at the castle.
While Balmoral holds some of the Prince's happiest memories, it also holds some of his saddest. It was here, in 1997, that he learned of his mother’s death in Paris, following a car crash after a paparazzi pursuit. This photo was taken just before he got the news. “I was in Balmoral when I was told that my mother had died,” he said later. “Still in shock, I found sanctuary in the service at Crathie Kirk that very morning and in the dark days of grief that followed, I found comfort and solace in the Scottish outdoors.”
A world away from the royal estates, Catherine Middleton spent her early years in this charming yet modest property in Bradfield Southend in Berkshire. Born on 9 January 1982, the new Princess of Wales was the eldest child of Michael and Carole Middleton. The couple worked for British Airways when they bought this four-bedroomed red-brick property in 1979 for £34,700 ($45.5k), which was on sale in 2011 for almost £500,000 ($656k).
The Middletons moved to a larger property in the hamlet of Chapel Row, near Bucklebury in West Berkshire in 1995, following the success of their business, Party Pieces. Oak Acre, a large detached house, which cost them £250,000 ($328k), was set on one-and-a-half acres of land and could only be accessed via a private road, which they would appreciate in the years that followed. Michael and Carole are photographed here in November 2010, following the announcement of the engagement of their daughter Catherine to the then-Prince William.
The Prince and Princess of Wales met at the University of St Andrews in Fife, Scotland and spent their first year living in St Salvator’s Hall, where they became close friends. Affectionately known as Sallies, the student residence has 65 single rooms and 63 shared, along with an oak-panelled dining room and stained glass windows commemorating benefactors of the university. Once described as a “rambling Gothic dormitory”, it is generally considered to be one of the finest student halls.
Having become inseparable during their first year, the pair teamed up with friends to rent a two-storey house together in their second year at 13a Hope Street, pictured here, for just £100 per week ($131) each. Quickly becoming an item, they were an established couple by their third year and moved to a four-bedroom cottage called Balgove House with friends on the Strathtyrum Estate, a 400-acre private country pile owned by Henry Cheape, a distant cousin of the Prince.
As their relationship became more publicised, the couple would escape most weekends to a secret getaway on the Balmoral estate called Tam-na-Ghar cottage, which had been gifted to the Prince by his great-grandmother the Queen Mother just before she died. According to reports, the couple still use the charming three-bedroom property when things get too busy at the main house during their annual stay at the Scottish estate.
After graduation in 2005, Prince William joined the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, becoming an officer a year later, at the age of 24, and then serving as a search-and-rescue helicopter pilot – a job he later described as his “greatest calling in life”. Kate’s appearance at his passing out parade at Sandhurst in December 2006, alongside the late Queen and her parents, was viewed as a clear indication that the pair might marry in the future.
In between his military training and holidays with Kate, Prince William resided at Clarence House in London with his brother Prince Harry. Located next to St James’s Palace, the John Nash-designed building was built for the Duke of Clarence in 1827 and has been home to King Charles lll and Queen Camilla for the past 20 years. According to reports, the couple will remain here until renovation works are completed at Buckingham Palace.
Meanwhile, Kate lived with her sister Pippa in their parents’ flat in the heart of Chelsea, working for a family friend at the clothing store Jigsaw. Spread out over three floors with three bedrooms, the property reportedly cost them £780,000 ($1m) in 2002 when they bought it, and later sold for just under £1.9 million ($2.5m) in 2019.
With its cosy lounge and 1,250 square feet of floor space, the property was a refuge for Kate during the years following university, when her relationship with Prince William was under huge press scrutiny. It was during this period, back in 2017, Middleton was nicknamed "Waity Katie" by the media. The couple split for a few months, before secretly making a pact while on holiday in the Seychelles, promising each other they would eventually get married when the time was right.
William and Kate finally announced their engagement in the State Rooms of St James’s Palace in central London in November 2010. The royal couple had become engaged in October, while on holiday in Kenya, and planned to marry the following spring or summer, in what proved to be the biggest royal wedding since Prince Charles and Diana married in 1981.
Excitement reached fever pitch by the time the royal couple kissed on the iconic balcony of Buckingham Palace on 29 April 2011. While Prince William has never lived at Buckingham Palace, it has been a constant throughout his life, from his regular appearances on the balcony as a child to its starring role in his wedding. As well as a formal lunch for 600 guests at the Palace, hosted by his grandmother the late Queen Elizabeth II, there was also a dinner for 300.
The royal couple had already been living together at a four-bedroom farmhouse on the Bodorgan estate on the Welsh island of Anglesey prior to their marriage while Prince William completed his Royal Air Force training. They rented the property from Lord and Lady Meyrick for about £750 ($983) per month but left before the birth of their first child in 2013. The Prince told news outlets: "This island has been our first home together, and it will always be an immensely special place for us."
The Middletons' country home in Bucklebury has been a key location in the couple’s family life together since Michael and Carole Middleton bought the stunning Georgian house for an estimated £4.7 million ($6.2m) in 2012. The Grade II-listed house features seven bedrooms, five reception rooms, a swimming pool and a tennis court. Set on 18 acres of land, it has provided a refuge for the royal couple and their family over the years.
After giving birth to Prince George on 22 July 2013 at the Lindo Wing of St Mary’s Hospital in London, the royal couple drove directly to the Middleton manor in Bucklebury so that Kate could recuperate after the birth, benefitting from her mother’s support during those first weeks of motherhood. It was here that official photographs of their first child George, who is second in line to the throne, were taken by Kate’s father Michael Middleton, in the garden with their black cocker spaniel, Lupo.
Following the birth of George, the family took up residence in Apartment 1A of Kensington Palace, which was formerly home to Princess Margaret, the Queen’s sister. Before they moved into the 20-room apartment, they undertook a £4.5 million ($5.9m) refurbishment, which was paid for out of the Sovereign Grant, given to the monarch from the treasury. The couple moved to Windsor in the summer of 2022 but continue to use Kensington Palace as their London base.
In May of 2015, the couple welcomed Princess Charlotte, third in line to the throne and pictured here in 2019 with her older brother George. After Charlotte's birth, the couple remained at Apartment 1A as they had plenty of space for their growing family. The residence takes up four entire floors and over half the Clock Tower wing of the palace – plenty of space for the young royals. But it wasn't all play...
Pictured here is the Drawing Room of Apartment 1A, where the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry entertained former US President Barack Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama before attending a private dinner party in 2016. That same year, a royal spokesperson confirmed that Apartment 8 of Kensington was to be used as a workspace for the royal couple's official responsibilities and charitable work.
During the same visit, a young Prince George had the chance to thank Barack and Michelle for the rocking horse they sent to the young Prince for his first birthday, which came complete with the presidential seal on its saddle. They're pictured here in one of the apartment’s five reception rooms, featuring cosy window seats and charming sash windows. Kate is said to have chosen many of the furnishings herself.
The stunning Georgian mansion Anmer Hall was given to the then Duke and Duchess of Cambridge by the late Queen as a wedding gift and became their main residence before Prince George started school at Thomas’s School in London in 2017. The Norfolk-based estate worked very well for the family when William was a pilot for the East Anglian Air Ambulance, and allowed the couple to raise their young family away from the media spotlight.
On 23 April 2018, the couple had their third child, Prince Louis, pictured here with his older sister at Anmer Hall. Kate took the picture herself before sharing it on Instagram. The couple lived here between 2015 and 2017, before they moved back to London full-time, but continued to use Anmer Hall as their country residence, spending time here at weekends and during the holidays.
Amid a flurry of rumours that a possible move was on the cards, the Prince and Princess of Wales finally relocated their family to Windsor in the summer of 2022. There were several reasons for the move, not least to be closer to the late Queen, who had been experiencing fragile health in the final months of her life. The couple were also keen to give their children a more normal childhood in a rural setting, and enrolled all three children at Lambrook Prep School in Berkshire, not far from where the Princess grew up.
The family are currently residing at Grade ll-listed Adelaide Cottage, which is a short walk from St George’s Chapel on the Windsor estate. The four-bedroom property, built back in 1831 for King William IV's wife, Queen Adelaide, was renovated in 2015 and did not require a costly refurbishment, which was important to the couple. The cottage is also conveniently close to Kate's parents, who live a 45-minute drive from Windsor Great Park, as well as her sister Pippa.
Over the centuries, the cottage was a favourite retreat of Queen Victoria and once housed Princess Margaret’s lover, Group Captain Peter Townsend. It reportedly boasted opulent interiors, including a ceiling covered with gilded dolphins, a rope decoration from a 19th-century royal yacht in the master bedroom and a stately marble Graeco-Egyptian fireplace. Post-renovation, however, the cottage is believed to have a more modest design, and although little is known about the current interiors, this snap of Kate in the home’s living room suggests a cosy, French Country-inspired aesthetic.
Amidst the ongoing question of whether or not King Charles' brother, the beleaguered Prince Andrew, will be forced to vacate his long-time Windsor home, the Royal Lodge, rumours have been circulating that Charles may have earmarked the property for William and Kate. While Andrew is being allegedly urged to move to Frogmore Cottage, from which Prince Harry and Megan Markle were evicted in early 2023, sources have suggested that Andrew’s exit would make way for the Waleses. However, these rumours are unconfirmed by the crown and William and Kate are said to have no interest in moving to the Lodge.
While a move to the Royal Lodge may not be on the cards after all, the family is reportedly contemplating a relocation to a grander estate in the future. Under mounting pressure to shoulder more royal responsibilities in the wake of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s departure, William and Kate could swap the comparatively modest four-bedroom Adelaide Cottage for Windsor Castle – though not any time soon it would seem. With three young children enrolled in the nearby Lambrook School, the Duke and Duchess are purportedly unwilling to uproot their young family for the time being. In an appearance on UK TV show This Morning in February 2023, royal correspondent Camilla Tominey revealed that the Waleses are "actually quite happy in Adelaide Cottage" for the time being.
Following King Charles lll's coronation on 6 May 2023, the Prince of Wales is one step closer to the throne. William's future, and the implications it will have for his wife and family, have been brought into much sharper relief as the royal couple prepares to shoulder the full responsibilities of the crown.
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