Last summer, the Prince and Princess of Wales announced that they were moving locations within the Royal Windsor Estate. At the time, they had spent three years living at the smallish Adelaide Cottage, a four-bedroom home close to Windsor Castle. They spent years trying to convince everyone that they “needed” Royal Lodge (then leased by Prince Andrew) or Fort Belvedere (still leased by the Weston family). At the end of the day, they ended up moving into Forest Lodge, a large manor house on the edge of the Windsor estate. They subsequently evicted several people in cottages close-by, and they grabbed 150 acres of public parkland for their “estate.” Well, as part of the National Audit Office’s audit of royal property, it’s now been confirmed that the Crown Estate (not William and Kate) paid for the £400,000 worth of renovations to Forest Lodge before the Wales family moved in.
The royal family’s housing arrangements have been a subject of interest after it was revealed that Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor paid peppercorn rent for his former home, Royal Lodge, and earned an income from other properties on the estate.
A new report by the National Audit Office has now shed light on Princess Beatrice, Princess Eugenie, Duchess Sophie and more royal accommodation. Among the findings was a deep-dive into the financial details of the Prince and Princess of Wales’ new home, Forest Lodge, where they live with their three kids, Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis, after moving from nearby Adelaide Cottage in October 2025.
According to the public spending watchdog, the Crown Estate sank a total of £396,993 into the Windsor home in 2025 to make it suitable for the royals. This means the renovation costs alone exceeded the average property value in England, which is £268,000, by more than £100,000.
Specifically, the repair costs were broken down into: the main Georgian property, which cost £213,353 for heating, plumbing and structural repairs; two stable cottages used for live-in staff, which cost £48,575 and £90,626; and a barn, which came to £44,439.
A third stable cottage is also included in William and Kate’s lease, but it did not require works to be carried out as the previous tenant did not leave until January 2026.
This marked the second set of changes carried out at the home in the past three decades. Constructed in the 1770s, the Grade-II listed building underwent a glow-up that is believed to have cost around £1.5 million ($2 million) in 2001.
I’m impressed with William and Kate’s sleight of hand now that I’m looking back at last year’s coverage of the move. They never directly said that they were financing the costly renovations themselves. Instead, they centered the storyline about how Forest Lodge is their new “forever home” and they “deserved” a grand manor home because they’d had a rough three years. They made it sound like moving to Forest Lodge (and billing the Crown Estate for £396,993) was their only choice, because they were so desperately sad and desperately in need of more space. And here’s the thing – people will magically “understand” why the Crown Estate picked up the cost of renovation, because this is Crown Estate property and the Waleses only have a lease (as opposed to owning it outright). Magically, this who-pays-for-royal-property-renovations issue was super-confusing when it was about Frogmore Cottage. Anyway… I still think the 150 acres of public parkland is a bigger deal, but it’s interesting to watch as this renovation-cost story is getting buried in real time.
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- Britain’s Kate and Prince William listen as they visit the National Federation of Women’s Institute (WI) to commemorate the three-year anniversary of the death of Queen Elizabeth II in Sunningdale, England, Monday, Sept. 8, 2025.,Image: 1035282569, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: *** NO UK USE FOR 48 HRS ***, Model Release: no, Credit line: Alastair Grant/Avalon
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- WINDSOR, ENGLAND – DECEMBER 03: King Charles III (second right) and Queen Camilla (R) with the President of the Federal Republic of Germany Frank-Walter Steinmeier and his wife Elke Büdenbender with Catherine, Princess of Wales and Prince William, Prince Of Wales (far left) as they watch a military procession during the ceremonial welcome for the state visit to the UK at Windsor Castle on December 03, 2025 in Windsor, England. The President of the Federal Republic of Germany, accompanied by Ms. Elke Büdenbender, are paying a State Visit to the United Kingdom as the guests of Their Majesties The King and Queen. The visit is the first from Germany in 27 years and will be marked with ceremonial visits, an address to the UK parliament and a banquet.,Image: 1056240126, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: *** NO UK USE FOR 48 HRS ***, Model Release: no, Credit line: Carl Court/Avalon
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- Wimbledon, UNITED KINGDOM Prominent personalities filled the stands at Wimbledon’s men’s final, watching Jannik Sinner claim the title. Pictured: Catherine Middleton BACKGRID USA 13 JULY 2025 BYLINE MUST READ: Best Image / BACKGRID USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
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- Basel, SWITZERLAND William, Prince of Wales, is seen at the UEFA Women’s Euro 2025 Final in Basel, Switzerland, cheering on the teams during the exciting match between England and Spain. Pictured: William, Prince of Wales BACKGRID USA 27 JULY 2025 BYLINE MUST READ: Best Image / BACKGRID USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
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- (Left to right) the Duchess of Edinburgh, Princess of Wales, Prince of Wales and Duke of Edinburgh during a Royal Garden Party at Buckingham Palace, London, to celebrate frontline workers from across the United Kingdom and recognise the dedication and contribution of those who serve their communities through volunteering, supporting charitable causes and working for emergency services Featuring: Sophie Duchess of Edinburgh, Prince William, Catherine Princess of Wales, Edward Duke of Edinburgh Where: London, United Kingdom When: 08 May 2026 Credit: PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
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That picture of keen wearing braid wig is another classic
So, does this mean that if they ever move out, they will have to repay for those costs like H&M did?
Certainly not, because William and Kate are “working” (cough) royals!
Even for a longtime royal watcher this level of greed on the part of the Waleses is astonishing. And I’m with you, Kaiser, the real value of Forest Lodge is the land, which they simply stole from the public, no questions asked👍
And wasn’t someone living in the house? didn’t they evict someone so they could move in? So the house was fine for that tenant but needed 400k in repairs for the Wales? and this doesnt seem to include any security upgrades or the like.
I do enjoy the mentions of the cottages for the staff. Let’s remind people that while there might not be “live in staff” the staff are on the property, within shouting distance.
That was my question. But Ima say nope. They will not. Although if it’s a “forever home” would they ever leave. Can’t see Kate leaving the privacy of that house.
“William and Kate will pay rent themselves, and are funding renovations to their new home out of their own pockets.” Instyle
“Will and Kate are said to be funding any works themselves, as well as the cost of the move from their current home.”nine.com.au
“Per the BBC, “Any work carried out on Forest Lodge will not come from the Sovereign Grant which provides state funding for the monarchy. The Prince and Princess of Wales are funding the move privately and they will pay market rent on the property.” T&C
I think there’s even more reporting that shows that WanK implied that they were directly financing the costly renovations themselves.
Interesting. Implied or just strait-up lied?
I think the phrase “..are funding the move privately..” from the BBC implies one thing but ultimately gives WanK semantic wiggle room to deny that they didn’t actually say what was being implied. If they used deceptive language to fool the public then I think they were straight up lying. It’s not like we don’t have any evidence of WanK lying before, right? Doctored Mother’s Day photo, using H’s signature on a public document without his consent, etc.
Yeah, the wording here is deliberately misleading. What I believe happens is that the Crown Estate pays for the “structural renovations” while WandK pay for the “soft furnishings” and probably paint, wallpaper, etc. but as usual KP PR bungles their attempt to make their master look humble and “of the people”, which always fails miserably.
The legal and consequently financial distinction between Frogmore Cottage and Forest Lodge is that — AFAIK — the cottage sits within the Windsor security ring, so is deemed sufficiently close to the royal residence in proximity to be awarded (or withdrawn) at the discretion of the monarch, whereas WanK are leasing not from the monarch, but from the Crown Estate. This is where it gets slippery: the Crown Estate is not necessarily overlapping — in law or in geographical coordinates — with the royal residences. And it does not sit within the security perimeter around Windsor, which is why they had to claw 150 acres out of the park in which it lies. So they negotiated their lease with the Crown Estate, and not with Charles III. Charles III receives revenue from the Crown Estate, the same way William receives revenue from the Duchy of Cornwall, but he does not own it. So their lease was granted by a committee that manages Crown Estate property on behalf of Parliament on behalf of the nation, I would imagine. And the money they use to pay their “rent” is presumably revenue from the Duchy of Cornwall, which William does not own, begging the question, why he is allowed to sell off parcels of the Duchy landholdings. Anyhoo. Their finances are only “complicated” in the way that shell games are complicated, and that’s before you get to the offshore trusts. Of which I would bet there are many.
Security or no security; working or non-working royals…those are all distractions from the main issue that the Audit Office covered: that regardless of status (working, non-working, heir’s line or no, etc) the monarch appears to have complete discretion on who gets housing on the public’s dime, and how much said royals (or royal-adjacents, or friends, or half-cousins once removed.. or staff of whatever stripe or level, etc) pay.
It’s yet another royal slush fund like transportation, security or “expenses”, but this time composed of real estate and we all know that when you give someone with power a slush fund, there’s shenanigans. Which the British taxpayer pays for. And as long as that’s considered a “nothing burger” or NBD or Whatever! and met with a collective shrug, the gravy train to the BRF’s door will keep rolling….
There are many offshore trusts established by QEII and the rest of the BRF (like Philip, who somehow as a public servant with no wealth of his own amassed a fortune said to be north of 70 million pounds at his death). This is publicly known. See the Panama Papers series in the Guardian
Phillip was also able to bank his civil list salary for decades because his wife supported him. Yet he still got that money every year.
And yes Lady Esther I agree with you 100%. Real estate is a slush fund for the royals much like “security” is or “transportation.”
Frogmore cottage is classified differently. I forget the exact terminology. its not part of the crown estate but kind of is. There’s a specific term for it. So the crown estate did pay for the renovations for it. that money did not come out of the sovereign grant or QEII’s personal wealth.
And while W&K presumably “negotiated” the lease with the Crown Estate, I doubt there was much negotiation going on unless it was “here is what we want and here is how little we are going to pay for it.”
Yeah, I’d thought the term was “peculiar” but that’s not it (perhaps that was my internal assessment of the real estate situation 😉 It’s more a part of Windsor and managed via the Sovereign Grant because of that? Some parliamentary stuff a couple centuries ago….(Frogmore House act of 1841 – and yes, that includes Frogmore HOUSE as well as Frogmore COTTAGE and other pieces of land)
Two cottages for “Live-in help”? Hmmm thought they sidnt have any?
Make that three cottages. One of the cottage’s tenants didn’t move out until January 2026, so those renovations won’t show up in these 2026 figures.
I think the Forest Lode landgrab plus 12 luxury holidays, no Easier or VJ appearance really sent alarm bells off for the tabs. PoWs have enjoyed a life of luxury and every consideration for a decade of light scheduled work but in 2025 it was time for Will as direct heir to get his act together. Instead he retreated further into his expensive bubble of privilege. Yea the Yorks freebies are being scrutinized but that level of scrutiny also should extend to the entire clan and especially the head and heir. Is PoW value for money? Why all this expense for someone who repeatedly chooses NOT to travel abroad for the Foreign Office when requested and
The whole “Meghan should renovate her kitchen” saga all makes sense now! I thought at the time that there was something going on in the background and here we are. I think there’s a strong possibility “Two Kitchens Kate”, insisted that part of that £400k went on installing a new kitchen into their latest forever home!
I am simply grasping my pearls and falling faint onto my swooning couch, just thinking about the poor Princess of Wales being expected to touch a kitchen counter top or cupboard handle that might have been touched by *gasp* peasants! The horror!!
Well of course, they’re royals. Btw, KKKate used to have normal hair. Those wigs/ wiglets, whatever, are bizaare, the length. the ugly ass crimping. Her wardrobe, why?! Letiza would never.