On Monday, Prince Harry flew to Amsterdam to attend an international AIDS conference. Harry has assumed a lot of AIDS-activism work his mother started in the ‘90s, and it’s not surprising to see him at a conference like this. Meghan didn’t come with him, and some believe she might have already slipped away to visit her mom in LA. I would believe that. Meanwhile, there’s some news on the “where will Harry and Meghan live now?” front. Previously, we’ve talked a lot about the theories as to which “country home” Harry and Meghan will receive now that they’re married, but little has been said about where their London home will be. For years now, Harry has called Nottingham Cottage – within the Kensington Palace compound – his home, and Meghan moved into the cottage last year. But surely the Queen will give them a bigger space in one of the palaces? Not so, says the Daily Mail.
It was once home to Princess Margaret’s lover Group Captain Peter Townsend. Now Adelaide Cottage, nestled in the heart of the Home Park in Windsor, is set to welcome the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. According to a source, the Queen has offered the Grade II listed property to the newlyweds as a gift. The source claimed that the couple had been for a viewing, liked it and will move in soon. Last night Kensington Palace declined to comment.
Built in 1831 as a retreat for William IV’s wife Queen Adelaide, it has been home to Royal dignitaries and courtiers, most recently Simon Rhodes, son of the Queen’s cousin and best friend Margaret Rhodes, who died in 2016. But Group Capt Townsend – equerry to King George VI when he and his wife Rosie Marchioness Camden were given the grace-and-favour property in 1945 – is its best-known former resident.
Adelaide Cottage, which underwent renovation in 2015, is described as ‘picturesque’ by the heritage organisation Historic England. It says the main bedroom in the generously sized cottage boasts a coved ceiling with gilded dolphins and rope ornament from a 19th Century Royal yacht. There is also a marble Graeco-Egyptian fireplace.
Offering quick access to London, the secluded property is close to the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh’s private apartments and only a few miles from the Guards Polo Club in Windsor Great Park, which Harry regularly visits. The source added: ‘There are seven gated entrances and exits to Windsor Castle so the newlyweds could come and go without worrying about being photographed.’
You can see some photos at the Mail – it’s not really a “cottage,” it seems more like a spacious mansion. Not a huge, grand mansion, but still – it’s quite large to be designated a “cottage.” I guess I believe that this is a possibility, that the Queen would offer them a spacious home at Windsor rather than an “apartment” within one of the palaces. Charles has completely taken over Clarence House, and he uses St. James Palace for his offices and personnel. Buckingham Palace is in shambles and undergoing a lengthy remodel. Kensington Palace would have been the obvious choice, to give the Sussexes one of the bigger apartments there. But I have no idea how the other apartments are being used, quite honestly. Maybe the Queen didn’t feel like kicking out distant relatives from KP and she was like “screw it, I’ll send the ginger one to Windsor.”
Photos courtesy of WENN.
I don’t care where these two live. Just make sure Thomas Markle isn’t allowed anywhere near them.
In the UK, “cottage” just means it’s all on one floor.
That’s neat!
They used it here in America to refer tongue in cheek to enormous mansions.
“Cottage ” to me in the US is what we call a small, basic house in the woods. That doesn’t look like any cottage I’ve been to
Does it? We normally use bungalow to mean all on one floor. I thought cottage in this sense of this article tended to mean not a stately home (but often still pretty big). Cottage in normal use tends to mean smallish, maybe thatched, quite rural.
Cottage in the US can also refer to a lake home, however large. This place looks lovely!
No, cottage usually means a country cottage. You won’t find properties in the city referred to as cottages. All on one floor is what we call bungalows.
I’ll have to google the cottage because I refuse to click on the DM link. Not giving them more hits.
I Googled “Adelaide Cottage” and got all excited because so many reputable outlets had the story, BUT THEY ALL WERE QUOTING THE FREAKING DAILY FAIL. So, I still don’t know. It’s a lovely place, though.
I’m with you both. No clicks.
Is this in addition to that large apartment they are taking over from some older Royal or is this their main home then?
I believe this is instead of an apartment at KP.
There are so many rumoured homes for them. I won’t believe any of the articles until they actually move in! Right now, they have nott cott at KP, and their Cotswolds rental, which I believe is for 2 years. That’s all we know for now. Apparently, 1A is being renovated/refurbished for HM? But who knows.
That’s a funny picture of Harry in the header!
Yes it cracked me up! Its like the expression Harry always has on the Windsors on Netflix haha.
My guess is that when some of the royals in KP stop working they will move out and then the queen will give something to Harry. The rumors for years have been that X duke is willing to move out (I think usually Gloucester gets mentioned) but then never does.
so they rented that place in the Cotswolds that’s close to Charles, right? And now they’re getting this one? (So I guess not the place at Sandringham?)
I would be surprised if they aren’t given a bigger place to live in London. Maybe any offers are on hold until there are kids in the picture? Or maybe they prefer being in Windsor and will use KP just sort of as a place to crash if they have engagements in London?
I know I’m asking lots of questions here haha.
When did Will and Kate get Anmer Hall?
It doesn’t make sense for them to have 2 country homes near to each other, though. They should have one London place, presumably at KP, and one country pile, like Will and Kate. They weren’t gifted Amner until a few years into their marriage.. so I guess the Queen is doing the same for Harry and Meghan. I just looked Amner Hall up, it was 2013. Before that, they had their Wales home and KP.
It looks very pretty. I’ll take it.
Yes, very pretty. Life is good if you’re part of the BRF.
Cottages here in the UK can also mean a larger yet practical house. My partner’s cousin lives in a cottage in a cosy village near Cambridge where the houses don’t have numbers but names. When they bought it, it was just two floors but they have extended and expanded the attic to have a walk in shower and toilet and 2 double rooms. It’s a large house with 7 seven bedrooms not counting the several other rooms that they have but not that big (in UK terms) to be called a mansion or a manor.
Yeah, I always get confused when Americans call places like these mansions! They’re just bigger homes, not manors or mansions. Plenty of people I know have second homes like this out in the countryside for weekends and breaks.
They seem to really love Windsor, so this could make sense, but it’s not exactly a “London base.” I figured we’d find out somewhere down the line that they’d actually ended up buying that place in the Cotswolds as their country home, given the rumored amount renovations they were doing to the place.
I love that first pic of Harry. Probably it’s his face when he reads Daily Mail’s BS LOL
That’s his face in response to the question “Is it true you’ve forbidden your wife to wear trousers?”
Yes, it’s the GMAFB (give me a f–in break) face.
Mostly I think the Queens following what she did with her own children. Anne, Andrew and Edward all got their big houses out in the country near Windsor. They have smaller apartments in BP for when they need to be in London for a couple of days, but live most of the time out in countryside. So the Sussexes will likely keep their little cottage in KP for when they need to be in London and otherwise live out at Windsor. They seem to really like Windsor so (if true) I like that thats where they’ll be.
I agree with this. Harry’s not really the ‘spare’ anymore and while the Sussexes will certainly be working royals, they don’t need a high profile home base in London from which to operate.
This is the most likely scenario, given the renovation upheaval in Buckingham Palace right now. Temporary London-based apartments needed to be found for Andrew and the Essexes. I think Anne is based out of St James. They are also waiting to do the bigger housing reshuffle of the senior royals until after the Queen dies. At that point, C&C will move to Buckingham Palace, leaving their Clarance House unoccupied. The question will be who goes there – Will & Kate or Harry & Meg. It’s too big/too nice to stay vacant. Once that is decided, the rest will fall into place.
Charles may not move to Buckingham Palace. He is said to want to stay at Clarence House. What he might do is make BP available to the public and only use it for offices. Oh and also have the government take care of maintaining it.
If it where me I’d much rather have the cottage at Windsor than the apartment at KP, mostly for more privacy and to put a bit of distance between myself and the Cambridges. Now I’m not trying to ruffle feathers or suggest that there is any conflict between the Sussex’s and the Cambridge’s but I think that one can live too close to one’s siblings and right next door in Apartment 1, would in my opinion would be much too close. It would also allow H&M to create more of their own life away from the KP bubble.
Excellent reasoning.
I’m sure the KP apartments are spacious and beautiful, but yes, I would prefer a house like this for the privacy. No question.
I was thinking that. Living side by side they would both know everyone coming and going from both apartments.
You do realise they receive both… One London base and one country base for when they aren’t working in London. Each couple still has their privacy.
No offence to Meghan but I don’t approve of any of this, queenie dishing out houses (which she doesn’t own) like sweets to her pampered, entitled extended family, when so many people here in the UK don’t have a roof over their heads. The sooner this lot have their excessive ways curbed, the better.
Did you feel that way when Will & Kate got Anmer Hall, re-did it, re-did their KP apartment too?
I’m not governed by royalty, and think the whole thing is ridiculous; I just hope the sudden concern for the poor isn’t kicking in because of Meghan.
I’m in Canada, where a lot of people were suddenly dramatically, vocally concerned with the plight of the domestic poor after the country decided to admit more refugees from Syria. Haven’t heard a peep about the poor since the refugees were admitted.
Will and Kate have been criticized a LOT on this website, for their laziness and absurd privileges. Especially regarding the KP/Anmer renovations.
@Kay – quite. I’d have thought ‘pampered, entitled extended family’ would have made it crystal clear that none of them remotely deserve the perks they continue to enjoy, least of all the particularly entitled and outrageously lazy Cambridges.
The only small pleasure I get from this is the thought of sour old Samantha M seething with rage and jealousy at the news of this latest perk!
“Did you feel that way when Will & Kate got Anmer Hall, re-did it, re-did their KP apartment too?”
Lol. yesss, people felt exactly the same way, and there was a huge backlash, especially about the renovations. It will be interesting to see though if the same people that complained about Will and Kate’s costly refurbishments will be doing the same for Harry and Meghan.
It looks nice, and Windsor is closer to London than the Sandringham estate, but still lovely and charming. I presume they still get to stay at Nottingham Cottage in Kensington?
If they have children,no doubt they’ll get a bigger apartment in one of London’s palaces.
I thought they were renting some giant country manor near the Beckhams. Is this cottage at Windsor going to be another place to live ? How many places within driving distance of London does a young couple need ?? Even a wealthy couple. Windsor is kind of “country” isn’t it – wouldn’t they live there instead of renting in that other county then. Sorry if I’m fuzzy on the locations of all these houses, not a Brit.
Possible dumb question. Home Park, Windsor is about an hour to an hour and a half outside of London. Would one need a large home in Windsor, the country home, and another place in London proper? That sounds exhausting.
Not dumb at all. And no, one country residence and one London residence is all that any of them need.
The humanitarians Meghan and Harry need three homes. It is just done, you know.
Hey Vonnie. Why do you keep cashing in on your family? First your kids and now Meghan. You’re a despicable woman.
I live on Aquidneck Island in Rhode Island. This Island consists of Portsmouth, Middletown & Newport. Newport is famous for it’s “Summer Cottages.” The largest “cottage” is The Breakers. The Great Gatsby used Rosecliff. Another “cottage” was used in the filming of TRUE LIES.
These are all magnificent mansions & are open for tours. The Preservation Society of Newport was founded in 1945, and why these “cottages” weren’t torn down or turned into condos.
Long ramble almost over, I do believe that the term “cottage” was used tongue in cheek to describe these Summer homes of the uber Rich & famous.
I think I permanently damaged my feet spending the day at Marble House a few years ago. 😂😂😂