Cambridge family’s new Windsor life – ‘scandalous’ home, posh school and Meghan link
Prince William and Kate Middleton are preparing for a new ‘modest’ life in the Windsor countryside – with Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis all starting at the same £50k private school in September
Image: Getty Images)
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It is full steam ahead for the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge as they prepare for a new chapter of their lives – in Windsor.
Prince William and Kate Middleton will move their family to the Queen’s Berkshire to be closer to the 96-year-old monarch while also escaping the “goldfish bowl” life of living in Kensington Palace.
The big move also means a change of school for Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis – with the trio all being privately educated at the same school, which will set them back more than £50,000 a year.
Dad William will be the one wrangling the three kids for the morning school run, according to reports.
Royal experts say the fresh start will give the family more privacy, as Prince William and Kate Middleton were keen to move into a more ‘low-key’ home in the countryside. Here, we take a look at what we know about the Cambridges’ new life so far.
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Prince George of Cambridge, Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, Princess Charlotte of Cambridge, Prince Louis of Cambridge and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge stand on the balcony of Buckingham Palace following the Platinum Pageant
Image:
( Getty Images)
New house
Prince William and Kate will keep Apartment 1A at Kensington Palace – which previously belonged to Princess Margaret – as their official working residence.
But the family will soon reside for the majority of the time at Adelaide Cottage – the Grade II listed four-bedroom house in Windsor’s private Home Park.
A source said the family had been “very keen for a modest home” and felt the downsize “fits the bill”.
Owned by the Crown Estate, the Duke and Duchess will pay market rent on the historic building, which was built in 1831 for Queen Adelaide as a summer retreat.
It then became the favoured home of Air Force officer Peter Townsend, whose love affair with Princess Margaret rocked the monarchy in the 1950s.
The Cambridges will be moving into Adelaide Cottage, a ‘modest’ home
Image:
( Matrixpictures.co.uk)
Royal sources said the future king and queen had thought “long and hard” over the move with one palace insider saying their “overriding focus being to provide as ‘normal’ a life as possible for their children before beginning their own royal lives.”
It is thought their brood can be out and about in the countryside without worry unlike in busy London where it is believed to have been difficult for the children to take advantage of the nearby parks amid privacy issues.
The family’s downsizing means William and Kate’s full-time nanny, Maria Teresa Turrion Borrallo, will live elsewhere for the first time, as will other staff including the housekeeper and the chef.
The location offers the family easy access to the private 655-acre Home Park and the historic royal estate’s network of drives, gardens, farms, nearby trout stream, Frogmore House and Royal Mausoleum, and Queen Victoria’s Walk flanked by cedars.
Other benefits include neighbouring Windsor Great Park, which spans more than 5,000 acres, with its Long Walk leading up to Windsor Castle, deer park and woodland trails in the Valley Gardens.
Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis will attend Lambrook School in Berkshire, as the Cambridge family leave behind their Kensington Palace home in London
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( PA)
Neighbours of the Queen
The Cambridges’ homely cottage is just a 10-minute walk from Windsor Castle – which has been the main residence of the Queen since 2020.
This means the family of five will be able to spend more time with the children’s great-grandmother.
The move to be closer to the Queen signifies the strength and importance of Prince William’s relationship with his grandmother – as she relies on him and his father Prince Charles for advice on issues facing the monarchy.
Adelaide Cottage is also just up the road from Meghan Markle and Prince Harry’s Frogmore Cottage – which would enable the two princes to pop to each other’s homes when the couple returns to the UK from the states next month.
It’ll also mean George, Charlotte, and Louis will easily be able to make playtime with their cousins, Archie and Lilibet.
However despite Harry and Meghan arriving days after the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s move into Adelaide Cottage, just 900 yards away, both parties have ‘no plans’ to meet up.
There are plans in the Sussexes’ current schedule to indicate the pair will see the Cambridges, it has been claimed, with insiders saying there is “no chance” that an invite will be offered to spend some time together at one of the properties.
Posh new school
General view of Lambrook
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( Lambrook)
Prince George, Prince Louis, and Princess Charlotte will all attend the same school from September – with the trio all taking a place at private Prep School Lambrook.
The school, which dates back to 1860, is a co-educational Prep School for 615 boys and girls aged 3-13 set in 52 acres of countryside, which is just around the corner from their new home Adelaide Cottage.
William will be in charge of ferrying the children to Lambrook on weekday mornings, the Sun reports.
After months of speculation about the family’s future, Kensington Palace finally confirmed the move on Monday.
A statement said: “The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have today announced that Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis will attend Lambrook School in Berkshire from September 2022.
“Their Royal Highnesses are hugely grateful to Thomas’s Battersea where George and Charlotte have had a happy start to their education since 2017 and 2019 respectively and are pleased to have found a school for all three of their children which shares a similar ethos and values to Thomas’s.”
It boasts its own golf course
Image:
( Lambrook)
Lambrook boasts its very own Orchard complete with bees, chickens, and even pigs. There is also woodland for the little ones to explore, a nine-hole golf course, a 25-metre swimming pool, a cricket pitch, squash courts and a dance studio.
But it doesn’t come cheap. Fees for the top school range from £4,000 to £7,000 per term depending on the age of the child.
Therefore, William and Kate are set to fork out in excess of £53,000 this year on their children’s private education.
Reached within a 20-minute drive from Windsor Castle, Lambrook, also has a royal connection.
In 1878, two of Queen Victoria’s grandsons, Prince Christian Victor and Prince Albert of Schleswig-Holstein, were pupils there. Queen Victoria used to travel from Windsor Castle to Lambrook to watch her grandsons in plays and cricket matches.
Royal expert Joe Little, the managing editor of Majesty magazine, said the move to Lambrook will remove their “nightmare” school run.
He said: “Logistically, having all three children in the same school makes perfect sense because it means just one school run. With the family in Berkshire the journey will be considerably shorter and easier than the nightmare that was Kensington Palace to Battersea twice a day.
“It also means that the cost of security, always a contentious topic, is much lower than if Louis was at a different school to his siblings.”
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