When we first learned, over the weekend, of the Prince and Princess of Wales’s planned move to Forest Lodge, their office confirmed that they have no plan to ever live in Buckingham Palace. Or Windsor Castle. Or Clarence House. Their “future-planning” for when they are king and queen includes “staying” in Kensington Palace Apt. 1A, plus Forest Lodge, plus Anmer Hall. My reaction was disbelief. Not “disbelief” in the sense that I couldn’t believe their audacity. “Disbelief” in the sense that I do not believe their current claims whatsoever, and I find William and Kate’s office so lacking in credibility, it’s bonkers that anyone really believes anything coming out of their mouths. I think whenever William becomes king, suddenly we’ll be told something else entirely about the family’s living arrangements and plans. But in the meantime, the royal sycophants are falling all over themselves to justify the palace’s talking points. The Telegraph’s Hannah Furness writes, in the newspaper’s Royal Appointment blog, that at least William is being “honest” and upfront. Boot-licker.
Full marks to Prince William for honesty this week. He has made clear that he has no intention of living full time at Buckingham Palace, even when he is King. Controversial, certainly. But there is something refreshing in letting it be known now, upfront, and getting any criticism out of the way. The Waleses and their young family will be moving to Forest Lodge, a large-by-my-standards but small-by-royal-standards home not too far from their current residence Adelaide Cottage. Safe to say it is very on-brand for the Waleses.
They will still be without live-in staff: a Middleton upbringing rather than a Royal one. In a generation to come, the practice of former royal valets, butlers and underfootmen building a second career out of their glimpses of the Royal family in their private quarters will be gone.
The Wales family have been at Adelaide Cottage for three years, although I imagine periods of that must have felt like a lifetime. They have been both very happy and indescribably sad, worried and in pain there. It is not too much of a stretch to imagine how they now associate the property with the most difficult time of their life. Does the Princess look around her and remember the exact place she told her children she had cancer? The bed and sofa where she recovered from chemotherapy, anxious for the future?
The decision to move a short drive away will give the family a chance for a “fresh start and a new chapter”, a source has said, leaving “some of the more unhappy memories behind”. Anyone who has been through personal trauma will understand that instinct on a visceral level.
It leaves a question around Buckingham Palace, although that is not, frankly, a new issue at this point. Monarchy HQ has not been the home of a monarch since before Covid-19, and the King and Queen are happily living at Clarence House while the palace’s long renovation continues. We have been told repeatedly that the intention is for the King to move in eventually but I’m not sure anyone really believes that anymore. Like the old assurances that Camilla would never be known as Queen (the idea, 20 years ago, was that she would be “Princess Consort”), these things move on and the palace hopes that the public gradually gets used to something different.
It is to Prince William’s credit that he is being clear about his plans now. The estimated 775 rooms in Buckingham Palace can be used as offices and staff quarters, to host events, and opened up further to visitors. For tourists, if the palace is an office rather than a home, the old magic of seeing the Royal Standard fly above it and wondering if they might catch a glimpse of the monarch is diminished. But the institution must find a way of retaining it. With £369m having been spent on refurbishing the palace to make it safe and fit for use, the public must understand how it will be used to everyone’s benefit, other than for a few royal “balcony moments” each year. That is a question for the future.
For now, a source says, the Waleses are “looking forward to creating many happy memories in their new home”. After a tricky few years, it doesn’t seem too much to ask.
“It is not too much of a stretch to imagine how they now associate the property with the most difficult time of their life. Does the Princess look around her and remember the exact place she told her children she had cancer? The bed and sofa where she recovered from chemotherapy, anxious for the future?” By this rationale, surely they would need a different country home in Norfolk as well, considering Kate spent a good deal of her recovery at Anmer Hall? And what about her parents’ home, Middleton Manor in Bucklebury? Surely they need a new manor house because of all the dreadful memories. Do the kids need to go to a new school as well? That’s the problem with arguing that you need an emotional-support mansion. They really should have used a different rationale. And no, I don’t have to hand it to William for being “honest.” These people have been lying and obfuscating for the past two years (longer than that).
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.
