People often complain about Prince William’s many homes, which include: Kensington Palace, Adelaide Cottage, Anmer Hall and Tam-Na-Ghar (their home on the Balmoral estate). But I find it odd that William has been Prince of Wales for nearly three years and he hasn’t made any kind of move to upgrade to a larger property. Granted, I’ve never believed that he lives full-time (or even part-time) at Adelaide Cottage, and I also think he likely keeps an apartment at Windsor Castle. But still – when William’s father was his age, he had already bought Highgrove and he was turning the property into a showcase for organic gardening, with plenty of room for his sons to play and party and have fun. William’s just kept the same old “country home,” Anmer Hall, on the Sandringham estate and that’s it. Well, now it looks like William will not take over Highgove when his father passes either.

Prince William “won’t commit” to inhabiting a beloved royal estate bestowed upon him by his father, King Charles, according to a former member of the royal staff.

Part of Prince William’s inheritance from his father was the stewardship of Highgrove House and Garden in Gloucestershire, a residence adored by Charles and Queen Camilla, reports OK!. The pastoral home, once shared by Charles, his former wife, the late Princess Diana, and their young sons William and Harry, automatically became Prince William’s in 2022.

Yet, according to Charles’ former gardener Jack Stooks, who tended the gardens at Highgrove for over two decades before retiring last year, it seems unlikely that William will choose Highgrove as his future home. Stooks pointed out that the Prince’s Foundation currently rents the garden from the Duchy of Cornwall, protecting it for posterity.

“Before he became King, I think the idea was that they needed to make sure that the garden was actually protected,” Jack revealed. The reasoning, according to Jack, was likely rooted in the belief that Prince William wouldn’t choose Highgrove as his residence upon ascending the throne, leading to measures for its conservation: “So I think he thought that William probably wouldn’t move into Highgrove once he became King, so the idea was, ‘Let’s protect it somehow,’ so it was given over to the Prince’s Foundation. So the Prince’s Foundation now rents the garden from the Duchy of Cornwall.”

Discussing the curious dynamics of royal property arrangements, Jack mused: “The King rents his house from William, and William rents two of his houses from the King, so yeah, it’s quite odd, isn’t it? To think that he’s on their property, and the other ones are on the other property.”
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When probed about possible reasons why Highgrove might not be chosen by William, Jack considered the pressures of creating an individual family identity: “I think that William’s obviously got his own family now, so he’s got his own family unit and they’ve been brought up at Anmer Hall, and also now at the Adelaide Cottage. Highgrove was very much his mum and dad’s home – where they were brought up – so it’s like a family home that mum and dad lived in.”

He also suggested that the Princess of Wales would face an unfair burden if they moved into Highgrove due to the persistent likening to Princess Diana.

“That’s like her having to step into Diana’s shoes,” Jack opined, adding, “And she’s so often compared to Diana in the press, which I think is unfair because, yes, I know she’s the Princess of Wales, and I know that Diana was the Princess of Wales, but they’re very separate people.

[From The Daily Mirror]

While Diana spent time at Highgrove in the first years of her marriage to Charles, when the marriage really broke down, she just stayed in London or went elsewhere for the weekend. Diana even told people that she knew that Camilla was there, playing house with Charles and carrying on their affair. While Camilla now claims that she’s never liked Highgrove, she’s spent much more time there than Diana ever did. Which, fair enough, if that’s actually why William has no interest in the property. But yeah, it’s just strange to me that the literal Prince of Wales is just fine with keeping his wife and kids in a “modest” cottage in Windsor and that he has so little interest in moving into a larger space, a space he could customize.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.