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Daily Record
Daily Record
Entertainment
Rebecca Russell & Nicola Croal

Prince William and Kate forced to continue living in their 'small' Windsor home

King Charles' plan to downsize the number of Royal properties in an attempt to tighten budgets has seen him allegedly order the Duke of York to leave his royal residence with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex also previously being evicted from Frogmore Cottage.

To add further uncertainty into the equation, it's been rumoured that Prince Andrew's Royal Lodge home, which he shares with his ex-wife Sarah, Duchess of York has been earmarked for the Prince and Princess of Wales.

However, OK! reports that William and Kate have confirmed that they will be staying in their Adelaide Cottage family home for many years to come despite the Royal Lodge originally being put aside for the Wales family.

A source has claimed that, despite the speculation hovering around the situation and the costs needed to repair it, Queen Elizabeth made an arrangement before her death for her son to be able to come up with the money to make essential repairs to his home that he is refusing to leave.

The source told OK! the palace originally wanted Andrew out of the property so that the home could be renovated and prepared for new lodgers.

Queen Elizabeth made arrangements for the Duke to be able to afford to keep his Royal Lodge home before she died, a source has claimed (Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Images)

They explained: “The Prince and Princess of Wales desperately want a larger property for their family in the Windsor area and discussions were originally focused on putting them in there.

"However, Andrew was having none of it and is adamant that he will see out the end of his lease at Royal Lodge.”

A Kensington Palace source added: “William and Kate love the cottage but it’s just too small for them. There are four bedrooms which just about fit them all in but there are other things that need to be considered.

"Staff and other elements need to be factored in. It is also meant to be a working residence and there isn’t room to facilitate an office or hold more than a few guests at a time.

"They were looking for a larger home but have now resigned themselves to the fact that they will be stuck in the cottage due to other properties not opening up for them.”

However, it seems for now that the Wales' family will remain in their current home for the foreseeable future with former BBC royal correspondent Jennie Bond speaking about why the couple will likely stay in their cottage.

The Royal Lodge was earmarked for the Wales family who currently live in Adelaide Cottage (DANIEL LEAL/AFP via Getty Images)

Explaining why she doesn't believe Kate and William will be too bothered about the Royal Lodge situation, Jennie said: "I’m not sure William and Catherine will be that fussed, they chose Adelaide cottage because they wanted to give the children a more normal lifestyle.

"Of course, they still have the apartment at Kensington Palace, and they have a large house in Norfolk (Anmer Hall) … so they are well acquainted with a grand lifestyle, and perhaps living in a relatively normal four bedroom house (surrounded by thousands of acres of wonderful Windsor estate countryside) isn’t such a bad option.

"As the children grow up, though, and want friends to stay, or William and Catherine want her side of the family to stay, they might find it a bit of a squeeze and would be grateful for the space at Royal Lodge. For now, though, I don’t think there’s a great rush."

When contacted for comment, Kensington Palace allegedly told OK! that "there are no plans for the Wales’ to move house".

The Wales family moved into their four-bedroom home Adelaide Cottage in Windsor in September 2022.

The historical property is nestled in the heart of the Crown Estate's private 655-acre royal park and was originally built as a retreat for William IV's wife Queen Adelaide in 1831.

A source has claimed that the cottage is too small for the Wales' family but they are not too bothered about it as they want to provide their three kids with a relatively normal upbringing (Getty Images)

The cottage was also known to be a favourite of Queen Victoria's, and she frequently enjoyed eating her breakfast there.

Perhaps one of the most famous former residents of the cottage was Princess Margaret's lover, Group Captain Peter Townsend, who was a former RAF pilot and later an equerry to her father King George VI.

Townsend had a famous love affair with Queen Elizabeth II's younger sister, who was 16 years his junior.

Adelaide cottage has also previously been home to many royal dignitaries and courtiers including Simon Rhodes, the son of Her Majesty's first cousin Margaret Rhodes, who served as a Lady in Waiting to The Queen Mother.

Rhodes moved over to the UK from Zimbabwe with his family after they had to flee country due to ongoing violence.

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