Real question: do you think there was a different way for the Prince and Princess of Wales to position their move to Forest Lodge so that they wouldn’t have gotten such angry pushback? I think Tom Skyes’ point, made in his Royalist Substack, was well-made: that William and Kate arguing that they “needed” to move to Forest Lodge because of their “difficult three years” was what came across as particularly tone-deaf. No one deserves an emotional-support manor house, especially not a work-shy couple who just skipped VJ Day for no reason other than “they were on vacation.” As I’ve said for years, it’s bizarre that William and Kate even kept up the “we’re happy in humble Adelaide Cottage” story. They are the future king and queen – it’s actually perfectly acceptable for them to say, “actually, we need a larger place to entertain and host events as we begin to transition into our eventual roles as heads of state.” They can’t say that and they couldn’t argue that because… then people would expect them to actually do the work. Which is why they’re still sticking with “we deserve an emotional-support mansion because QEII died!” From Katie Nicholl’s Vanity Fair piece:
A new chapter: Prince William and Kate Middleton are looking forward to starting “a new chapter” when they move out of Adelaide Cottage and into Forest Lodge. Sources close to the couple say they want to leave the difficult memories of the past three years behind and “start afresh” when they move into the stunning eight-bedroom, six-bathroom home with a “ballroom” and tennis court, in Windsor Great Park later this year. It is the family’s third move in as many years. In 2022, William, Kate and their three children, George, Charlotte and Louis, left London for Windsor, trading Kensington Palace for Adelaide Cottage. The four-bedroom house is too small for the family, and friends say the couple wants a change after a turbulent three years.
Mapping out a long-term plan: Sources close to the family say William and Catherine, who is in remission, are mapping out a long-term plan to stay in Windsor, where their three children are enrolled in school. Although the palace has not confirmed where Prince George will attend secondary school, William’s alma mater Eton College is on their short list and an easy commute from Forest Lodge. Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis will stay at nearby prep school Lambrook School until they are eleven.
Future-planning: Sources have told Vanity Fair that there will be no other changes to the couple’s living arrangements and that they will keep their Kensington Palace apartment as their official London residence as well as Anmer Hall in Norfolk, which was gifted to them by the late Queen as a wedding present. William and Kate are said to be “future planning” for when they are King and Queen and will divide their lives between Windsor, Norfolk and London.
They plan on rarely staying in London though: Apartment 1A, their grand 20-room apartment at Kensington Palace, is rarely used by the family, who do not like the fact that the residence is located in a public park. According to sources, it is unlikely that William and Kate will ever live full-time in London. Forest Lodge will be their “forever home,” they say, adding that they may not want to move when they become King and Queen. While Windsor Castle, the late Queen Elizabeth’s favorite royal residence, would be an obvious place for the family to live when William is monarch, friends of the couple say they want a more “low-key” residence. “It’s all in keeping with William not wanting to be a drain on the public purse and living as ordinary a life as he can, even when he is King,” adds one insider.
A while back, I said repeatedly that the more they talked about their simple life in Adelaide Cottage, the less I believed that William even lived there. The same is true in this situation with Forest Lodge – the more they go on and on about “future-planning” to stay in Forest Lodge forever, the less I believe that Forest Lodge is actually the real plan for both Will and Kate. Granted, I think they will retain Forest Lodge for the foreseeable future – Kate and her parents negotiated an upgraded separation home, after all, and a deal is a deal. But all of this talk of mapping out their future makes it sound like this is simply going to be their cover story for some time to come. One of my theories is that William has been splitting his time between a suite in Windsor Castle and KP for some time already. I also think he stays at the Sandringham main house a lot of the time too. This is less about “William not wanting to be a drain on the public purse” and more about the elaborate cover stories for William and Kate’s living arrangements and marital estrangement.
Photos courtesy of Kensington Palace and Cover Images.
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- Handout photo provided by Kensington Palace of the Princess of Wales with the Prince of Wales. The Princess of Wales said she has finished chemotherapy and is “looking forward to being back at work and undertaking a few more public engagements in the coming months” Featuring: Catherine, Princess of Wales, William, Prince of Wales Where: London, United Kingdom When: 09 Sep 2024 Credit: PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
“The four-bedroom house is too small for the family, and friends say the couple wants a change after a turbulent three years.”
How many homes will they be acquiring over the next 30 years? Which friends? They have friends?
As for KP, that needs to be returned to the public fold, but let’s keep the facade because Willy uses it for his Uber chopper rides.
“Friends” = Carole and Jason
If they aren’t going to live in London, they can give up KP and get an apartment in St. James Palace. When Charles dies, they can use Clarence House as their London base.
I’m confused about the ‘William doesn’t want to be a drain on the public’. Really? The GIVE UP KP 1A, don’t hang onto it. GIVE UP the helicopter, the yacht trips, the ski trips, the 24/7/365 security. Give it all up, buddy! Give up the deference, the obsequiousness, the fawning. Let it all go!
KP is located within private grounds within the “public park” and their apartment has its own garden and backyard. They’re so ridiculous. I also love use of the term “mapping” as if they are doing something other than telling their staff they want to live in Windsor and then yelling at people until it happens
“Mapping” is one of AI’s favorite terms.
It’s really ridiculous the way they try to make it sound as if they’re on display in a museum when they’re in their ginormous apartment 1A contained within completely private space at KP. No random member of the public or press can get ANYWHERE NEAR them.
And Will had that tall shrubbery planted at KP so that people couldn’t even track the comings and goings of his helicopter, ffs!
I can’t believe Katie wrote “not be a drain on the public purse” with a straight face (or did she?) Isn’t Forest Lodge outside the security bubble so public resources will be diverted to provide security?
Yep and I’m pretty sure that the maintenance and staffing of Windsor and all the other palaces/castles continues regardless.
Yep. I looked it up yesterday, and as I interpret the map, the access to Windsor Great Park is via Forest Gate BEHIND Forest Lodge. So additional security cost, cottages to be swept empty for more staff, more miles for George to Eton, a very Wales way of downsizing…
That’s what I’ve read in other publications — Forest Lodge is actually outside of the “Ring of Steel” of Windsor Great Park, so they definitely need more security in addition to what they already have. They haven’t even moved in and they’re already “draining the public purse.”
This also came up when discussing Andrew’s costs for security because royal lodge is also outside of the main security “ring of steel”.
So the media is just simply lying when saying this won’t cost taxpayers anything. Security is an extra not paid for by the sovereign grant.
Adding a low-key residence on top of all of the other castles and residences owned by the RF quite literally drains the public purse. William can claim that he’s “not wanting to be a drain on the public purse” as much as he freaking wants but of course he is. Their pr is so insulting. It’s treating the public like they’re idiots, fr. That’s what William really thinks of the public if he’s gonna send this message of maintaining a low-key residence so he doesn’t drain the purse. Like we all know this is going to add security costs big time. Stop being such a groveling little liar, jeez.
The extra security costs alone for Forest Lodge will be a forever drain on the public purse. Can these people hear themselves when they speak? They had AC perfectly located within the Windsor security zone until Kate (imo) thrown a tantrum and demanded more. The British people are being gaslighted at all angles, but the BRF are too irrelevant for people to truly care.
Re the question could it have been handled better. Well yes. A simple, statement – We are moving from Adelaide cottage as we need more space. I’m not saying that it is true but it is a believable explanation. The late queen spent many weekends in Windsor, months out of London in Balmoral and Sandringham etc. without problem. Charles does the same now. The mention of forever home as well as saying in this article that it is unlikely that William and Kate will ever live full-time in London just adds unnecessary confusion. It increasingly reads like a soft launch for permanent separation. Also they always want to sound like they live a modest lifestyle which they don’t.
Also didnt they use public funding for millions of dollars worth of upgrades to KP…only to bail on it as a residence years later? It’s just terrible PR and planning all around.
Can’t is in remission from what exactly? Those precancerous cells that they lied about? This is about Can’t wanting a better and larger separation home and whatever she and Ma Midds have for intel they are using that to accomplish that want. She is getting a larger house and the staff will not be living with her so no one will know the exact day to day arrangements of Peg meaning Peg isn’t going to live there he will continue to live at KP and chopper in and out to wherever he goes.
Every time you post these pictures I’m reminded that W looks like he’s about to break into laughter in most of them.
K’s eagerly milking spending time with him though
In the “let’s all hug” picture, I’d think in a happy marriage it would be natural for Kate’s other arm to go around her husband, but it’s by her side.
It remains weird how awkward they look in the forest hug photos despite being a married couple of over a decade. The body language resembles strangers hired for a photo shoot.
(They actually looked less awkward years before. The old photo used as a cover for the Hello article shows this awkwardness wasn’t always there).
I get more irked by the day when I see their pictures. The lies, the hood-winking the public, the jealousy of two lovely and decent people who could care less about the monarchy, Kate needing cue cards to speak two sentences to launch a ship, the puffed-up outfits to bulk her up because she doesn’t eat enough, the vacations at every turn, bigger houses accompanied by all the lies/excuses as to why they’re needed. Pathetic. And all their evil deeds making them more unsightly by the day. They deserve each other.
What I really don’t understand is why they insist on clinging to this fiction of a happy marriage and a cozy little family unit.
Why not just divorce and have done with it? Is Kate so hell-bent on being Queen that she’ll blackmail her husband into staying in the marriage? Or does Bully need her that badly to cover the way he really lives his life?
The ones I feel badly for in all this mishegas are their kids, who seem generally unhappy; the Sussex family, who are perpetual targets of distraction; and the British taxpayers, who are getting royally shafted.
I’d say yes to both your middle points. Happily married is his big image and Kate/Carole will do anything they can to get that crown on her head, that’s been their game from the start.
I hope that this continued separate living works better for the kids as having unhappy parents actually living together is awful.
There comes a point where after years of talking how perfect W&K’s marriage is and how it’s only a matter of time before Harry divorces and moves back home, where you have to fully commit to the bit and not be the couple to get divorced first.
The thing that gets me is that their kids have to be in on the lie as they get older. I think that is an awful thing to ask of them to do for the rest of their lives. But these are awful people so I guess it tracks.
All the kids are old enough to know what is really going on at this point.
Does the British Royal Family honestly believe that people are this stupid? Nothing about this story makes any sense. We all know this is Kate and her family blackmailing the hell out of William for as large a house as possible. I get that AC was likely due to that being the only thing available at the time but this has just gotten out of hand. I feel if they just said they’ve seprated and divorced, people would actually be far more understanding than they were of Charles and Diana. It would be so much easier to be honest. But what do I know?
Actually, yes, people are stupid. Will and Kate are getting everything they want, they’re doing it in the open, and no amount of negative coverage will stop them. This new home is the most we’ve heard about the Wales couple in years and as usual, the press is following breadcrumbs while the open secret goes unreported. When C&C announced they maintain separate living quarters, W&K took the ball and ran with it. Call me crazy but for once, I think the future king and queen have figured out the long con.
Can I say…that EVERYTIME I SEE THAT BIG ASS 🤬 HOUSE THEY’RE MOVING FROM DESCRIBED AS A COTTAGE…I AM DISGUSTED! Frogmore where Harry & Meghan holed up at is a COTTAGE …Adeline should at LEAST be called a HOUSE…A BIG ASS HOUSE WITH SERVANTS QUARTERS DIRECTLY BEHIND IT…the Webster definition of a cottage is “a simple home”…THIS AIN’T THAT! 😡 Also to say they need to move to an even BIGGER home due to their bad turn from the last 3 years…where in the last FIVE YEARS THE 🌎 HAS BEEN & CONTINUES TO BE IN HELL 🔥FINANCIALLY/POLITICALLY/PUBLIC HEALTH…shows a level of UTTER CONTEMPT for the general public that is simultaneously impressive & 😱
And in a similar vein, their “apartment” at Kensington Palace is not an apartment as we ordinary people would understand it. It is an entire wing of the palace, spread over 4 floors. And yet they have the nerve to moan about it and leave it unused just because it’s close to a public park.
So they are practicing to be lazy king and queen consort.
So, they’re doubling down on the story that everybody hates and nobody believes – excellent PR.
I will ALWAYS be IMPRESSED at how 😱 the 🇬🇧 Royal Family has ALWAYS been at PR!😮
Their pr is getting really offensive, just saying. And that’s without even considering the fact that they’re using Kate’s rough time, after reportedly being in remission from cancer since January, as a reason for getting a new house. Meanwhile Charles has been working steadily while still reportedly having cancer. The flowery poor Kate pr is actually wild when you think about the fact that the king still has cancer and is working through it. Meanwhile KP is playing a violin for themselves and claiming they don’t want to drain the public purse…while draining the public purse. The embiggening pr is what will eventually bury them. Or not. Depends on how much apathy and a certain level of defeatism exists. Labyrinthine laws exist for a reason, protection.
Sooo, they don’t plan on spending any time in Scotland even after they inherit Balmoral?
They’re gonna divorce, I wasn’t sure before and thought they would just live separately but that marriage is definitely going to end.
Agree.
I mean it was obvious that Adelaide Cottage was too small for them. It was even too small for Kate alone. Even a real estate trainee would have guessed that. How could a whole ass team of courtiers not have foreseen this. What was the urgency for them to move to the first available cottage? This whole mystery and string of lies started with that move.
I think Adelaide was punishment combined with stinginess.
Forest Lodge is Chuck making concessions to hush up whatever happened to Kate in December 2023.
It’s begrudgingly given, and still stingy AF, but clearly it is an effort to keep Kate quiet and compliant.
Anyone see the House and Garden article on this mess from two days ago? It’s a whole ride, omg. They’re actually claiming WanK are paying the cost of reno, which I don’t believe for a moment.
https://www.houseandgarden.co.uk/article/forest-lodge-windsor-prince-william-kate-middleton
Agree with many of you, this language around “privacy” and “forever home” makes complete sense if you’re thinking of this move in terms of Kate’s separation house with an in-law suite for the Middletons.
Problem is, KP and the tabloids have tried for years to sell us a different narrative, namely, that this is the perfect little family with dutiful parents who are 100% dedicated to their tiny little children. If you’re thinking in those terms, then it’s really easy to poke holes in things like “forever home” when Willy is going to be king in a matter of years and not only will he inherit multiple additional castles, some of which are extremely private and close to nature, but also he will be expected to step up his work which requires something like Windsor Castle.
When the Queen was alive, Will-not and Can’t were planning for their futures as Prince and Princess of Wales and doing nothing, now they are planning their futures as King and Queen in which they will do nothing.
If they were clocking in hundreds of engagements each there would be fewer complaints about the new and larger home. But they are doing less than ever and will Charles dealing with cancer treatment, they are doing the opposite of stepping up.
Also skipping VJ Day for more vacation is a huge slap in the face of veterans. When Harry can manage something more thoughtful from across the ocean, these two look especially bad.
Future-planning? When have these two not been future-planning?
Well, the future is here, bitches. It’s time to finally step up.
Shoot they don’t even focus on “now” because they certainly can’t be bothered to work or show up for anything right now.
Up until now, William hasn’t had a home that’s been big enough for him to be able to properly “think” and “plan!”
/s
Articles like this show why VF is now a trash publication that has lost its credibility and prestige. Do they even have a new editor yet because this sycophantic drivel is not cutting it.
I haven’t read all the comments yet, so this may have been said already: notice how it went from “they’ll be living there even when W is king” to “they may not want to move when W is king” in what? About a week.
That’s one of the reasons they look so bad, they are ALWAYS lying.
Huh? Am I missing something? How can Kate be in remission from her preventative cancer treatment? Mae it make sense.
I can only assume that this press release comes straight from William and Kate’s comms office. The sheer audacity of these two to think this article sheds them in a good light. Oh my gawd. While the world is fire, and just maybe WWIII has already started, these two are poor-mouthing a mansion that was gifted to them, a big ole ass newly renovated estate they didn’t pay a penny for, and a 20-room(!) apartment (also a gift, I’ll bet).
In a world where most kids in the west can’t afford rent, much less to own a home, this article reads very close to our generation’s version of “Let Them Eat Cake!”
The more I read about William and Kate being GIVEN Anmer Hall as a wedding present—not to mention all the other subsequent homes, and Harry and Megan been given a LEASE, which Charles snatch back in so few many years, the clearer it becomes being a royal who is not the heir is a very precarious position.#Gettingout was a smart move.
Primal, janitor, primal, janitor pro janitor primogeniture, I guess they figure it will all be his any way. Elizabeth was smart to BUY Anne a home because primogeniture was always meant to keep women as beholden.
Future planning? And here I thought they were planning for the past. 🙄
Future planning to be even more Lazy!