When the Prince and Princess of Wales’s move to Forest Lodge was announced, Kensington Palace couched the news with a briefing about how Forest Lodge would be their “forever home,” and it’s where they would live even when William becomes king. That, even more than the Forest Lodge news, is what has caused so much of the drama we’ve witnessed in the past two weeks. The royalist media is astounded by the very idea that “King William” will not live in or work from Buckingham Palace, Windsor Castle or any of the other royal properties. Well, they dusted off Hugo Vickers to talk about this and he brought up a somewhat hilarious point, which is that William is out of his mind if he thinks prime ministers are going to traipse over to Forest Lodge for their weekly audience with the king.
Prince William and Kate Middleton won’t be able to live full-time in their lavish new Windsor home when they become king and queen, Page Six is told. Aides last week briefed that Forest Lodge, valued at $21 million, will be the couple’s “forever home” — however, that’s not quite the case. Although the sprawling property, which lies within the secure grounds of Windsor Castle, will give the Prince and Princess of Wales much more space — eight bedrooms compared to their current home’s four — they will still have to spend plenty of time at Buckingham Palace once William ascends the throne.
“They will have to have a London base,” Hugo Vickers, writer and friend of the royal family, told Page Six. “Remember, when [Queen Elizabeth] was at Windsor when [then Prime Minister] Theresa May was stepping down in July 2019, she had to go back and forth to accept May’s resignation and then greet the new PM, Boris Johnson. The king has to be somewhere convenient to the center of government. They can’t expect ministers to come to Windsor. I am sure William and Catherine will have to use Buckingham Palace as their London base and also for ceremonial duties.”
“They can’t expect ministers to come to Windsor.” They can and they DO expect it, I promise. Vickers doesn’t have any insider information here, he’s just applying logic to a situation which makes no sense. He can’t even spell it out like Robert Hardman did, which is that the prime minister when King Charles dies is the one who will have to “order” William to live in Buckingham Palace, or at least Clarence House. Somewhere in London, where William can conduct the business of state. The thing is, I’m absolutely sure that William’s plan is to just… work from home as much as possible. Instead of a weekly audience with the prime minister, he’ll send a tweet to Downing Street.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.
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