Inside Kate and William's 'forever home': Prince and Princess of Wales' new eight-bed Windsor mansion boasts a chandelier-lit ballroom, tennis court and spectacular views
Prince William and Princess Catherine are looking to move their family from Adelaide Cottage by the end of the year, an insider has revealed, and are said to relocate to the eight-bedroom Forest Lodge property in Windsor Great Park.
Forest Lodge underwent a £1.5million renovation in 2001 and was then put on the rental market for £15,000 a month.
Photos taken at the time revealed elaborate stonework as well as ornate plaster cornices and ceiling decorations.
Other images showed rooms in more states of distress as floors were ripped up and wires exposed while the 328-year-old building was being renovated.
Marble fireplaces were also spotted alongside gorgeous Venetian windows. A grand half-barrel vaulted hallway ceiling was also shown.
The couple, along with their children Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis, is hoping for a 'fresh start' after a difficult time at Adelaide Cottage, during which Queen Elizabeth died and Kate and Charles received cancer diagnoses, per The Sun.
With its chandelier-lit ballroom, tennis court and extensive grounds, Forest Lodge is a considerable upgrade from the cosy four-bedroom Adelaide Cottage where the prince and princess and their young family have lived for the last three years.
Renovations are reportedly underway again at the property they are planning to stay in long-term to enable it to be ready for the family to move in before the end of the year.
The newspaper reported that planning applications show how minor work has already begun at the Grade-II listed lodge, with renovations reportedly set to be funded by the couple themselves.
The BBC reported of redacted planning applications for minor internal and external alterations lodged with the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead earlier this month.
This includes the removal of a window and work done to a fireplace. Will and Kate are also said to be paying market rent for the property.
A source close to the family reportedly told the tabloid: 'Windsor has become their home. However, over the last few years while they have lived at Adelaide Cottage there have been some really difficult times.
'Moving gives them an opportunity for a fresh start and a new chapter; an opportunity to leave some of the more unhappy memories behind.'
The Waleses' move will be a short one from their current main home at Adelaide Cottage in Windsor, and the children attend nearby Lambrook School.
The home offers spectacular views, and football fan William will be able to see the Wembley Arch from his bedroom window.
And Kate has already been spotted picking new furniture to kit out the new abode, including a 24-seater table.
Forest Lodge was last week a hive of activity, with new shrubs being planted in its grounds and builders in white vans visiting.
A metal fence with black mesh privacy screens has been erected around the front of the house.
The family first moved to Windsor in 2022, where they settled at the humble Adelaide Cottage a short walk away.
The grade-II listed property is within easy distance of Lambrook School, where Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis are all pupils.
However, The Mail on Sunday revealed today that two families who lived in cottages next to the country mansion have been asked to leave their homes in order for the family-of-five to move in.
The cottages, converted from Forest Lodge's stables, are understood to have been rented out by the Crown Estate, and the tenants, are said to have been 'surprised' at being asked to leave.
It is understood that no eviction notices were served and the tenants have moved to similar or better housing elsewhere in the 4,800-acre Great Park.
One well-connected source said: 'They were told to move out. I guess they were given somewhere else, but they were told they had to move.
'They were not expecting it. Those houses are very close to the lodge, so they're not going to want any Tom, Dick or Harry living in those houses if there are going to be royals there.'
The MoS revealed in July that the prince and princess were considering upsizing to a much grander residence.
The scoop, however, was met with a degree of obfuscation by the Palace.
Aides initially attempted to steer this newspaper away from the story before clarifying that a move from Adelaide Cottage was not imminent.
It is understood that after publication, rival reporters were dismissively told that it was a so-called 'silly season' story. In fact, plans for a move were by then well advanced.
The couple are now also weighing up which senior school to choose for Prince George, with Eton, where fees are more than £63,000 a year, believed to be the front-runner.
The family has no live-in staff at their current home and this is also reportedly set to be the case once they move into this bigger abode.
It is believed the move out of London was to allow the family to be closer to the late Queen and to give the children a more ordinary way of life with more privacy.
Their move coincided with a challenging period for the Royal Family, with Queen Elizabeth dying at Balmoral Castle only weeks later.
Adelaide Cottage also provided a private and tranquil setting for Kate's recovery from chemotherapy after she was diagnosed with cancer last year.
The move comes after the Princess of Wales released the second of her quarterly films highlighting the beauty of 'Mother Nature', inspired by the solace she took from the countryside during her cancer journey.
'Summer' was filmed in the UK over the last few months and includes: Sheffield, Bradford, North Wales and Anglesey and the south coast of England.
And while it doesn't feature the princess visually, Catherine does provide the voice over for the film, which was released on Kensington Palace social media channels.
A written message, also by the royal, said: 'Our lives flourish when we cherish the bonds of love and friendship. It has never been more important to appreciate the value of one another, and of Mother Nature. Here's to Summer. C'.
The series launched in Spring to huge public interest as a celebration of the changing seasons across the UK, and a 'reminder and reflection of the beauty and complexity of the human experience'.
A Kensington Palace spokesperson told the Daily Mail: 'The Wales family will move house later this year.'
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