Imagine the royal commentators still complaining about the “cost” of the Frogmore Cottage renovation in September 2022. The Sussexes were given Frogmore Cottage when it was a dilapidated shack. It needed tons of work – including a new roof – just to be habitable. Yes, the work was expensive. Yes, the Sussexes “paid back” the cost of the renovation, and they’re also still paid up on the lease for Frogmore. Unlike Prince Andrew’s 99-year lease on Royal Lodge (a huge mansion), the Sussexes’ lease on Frogmore is only for one or two years at a time. I bring this up because the Sun, Ingrid Seward and the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are trying to compare-and-contrast Frogmore Cottage and Adelaide Cottage. Keep in mind, Adelaide is the Cambridges’ fourth home.
Kate Middleton was today spotted going for a drive near her family’s new home in Windsor. The Duchess of Cambridge looked relaxed behind the wheel during her first weekend at “no-frills” Adelaide Cottage. Kate, Wills and their three children this week swapped Apartment 1A Kensington Palace in London for the rural four-bed abode.
The family-of-five are said to have “travelled light”, without expensive new furniture and fittings, or demanding a mass refurbishment. They have brought their black cocker spaniel Orla but will have no live-in staff or nanny for the children and have asked for nothing other than a “lick of paint”, The Sun understands.
Kate and Wills’ low-key move compares to a £2.4million saga when Prince Harry and Meghan moved nearby when they were gifted Frogmore Cottage by the Queen as a wedding present in April 2018. Walls were knocked down to turn it into a ten-bed home and the entire property needed fresh plumbing, rewiring and decoration. It was then given a celebrity-style makeover complete with a trendy copper bathtub. The Sussexes moved out after only six months when they quit royal duty to live in America and now have an £11million nine-bedroom, 16-bathroom mansion in Montecito, California.
Last night Ingrid Seward, editor-in-chief of Majesty Magazine, said: “This will be the first weekend Kate and William have spent at Adelaide Cottage as a family. It’s a lovely moment for them all. They had to have moved in this weekend, because the children have to start at their new school next week. The renovation is no-frills, by royal standards — and is certainly in stark contrast to the £2.4million work Harry and Meghan had done on Frogmore Cottage. It will have been a builder’s finish.”
Kate and William spent around a year searching for a home in Windsor so the children could go to school together. They settled on Adelaide Cottage, as first revealed by The Sun, because they believed it needed no major renovations. They decided to go with existing furniture and fittings but had a fresh coat of paint to make it feel like home for the children.
They are keeping Anmer Hall in Norfolk, where they enjoy spending school holidays and Christmas. Apart from some treasured possessions, clothes and toys, most of their possessions have stayed at Anmer. Kensington Palace will largely be used for staff and as an office.
A spokesman for the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge did not want to comment.
[From The Sun]
Suddenly, Frogmore Cottage is being reimagined as some kind of glamorous 10-bedroom palace, when really doesn’t it only have like three or four bedrooms? It’s a pretty modest – by royal standards – family home, and one which the Sussexes paid for themselves. The Cambridges’ move to Adelaide just screams “temporary housing” to me, and the fact that they waited until the very last moment to “move into Adelaide” strikes me as exceptionally fishy. Granted, I don’t think they did major renovations to Adelaide either. But I think that’s because A) the Windsors seem fine with shuffling Kate and the kids into this smallish separation house and B) the Cambridges clearly believe they’ll be moving again at some point in the next year. As in, moving into Windsor Castle within days after the Queen’s passing.
Ten bucks says that Kate was maniacally circling Frogmore Cottage as soon as she heard that the Sussexes had arrived.
— Woman Magazine (@WomanMagazine) September 5, 2022
— The Sun (@TheSun) September 4, 2022
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Instar.
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