William and Kate are moving into the Grade II listed four-bedroom home in Windsor’s private Home Park to allow their children – Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis – more freedom when they start at Lambrook School near Ascot in Berkshire next month. The Duke and Duchess will keep their 20-room apartment in Kensington Palace as their official residence and will also have the 10-bedroom Anmer Hall country house near Sandringham. Graham Smith, chief executive of the pressure group campaigning for a head of state-elect, said: “While ordinary households struggle with energy bills and face crippling inflation, why are we giving William and Kate another house? “This is embarrassing.” He added: “All these palatial homes require 24-hour security, heating and staff.” The Cambridge family (Chris Jackson/PA) (PA wire) He said the Crown Estate was “a state property empire that is supposed to make money for the Treasury”. Use of the property will be a gift from the Queen, who has given William and Kate permission to lease it from the Crown Estate, with the couple paying market value rent using their own private funds. Joe Little, managing editor of Majesty magazine, said the move and the Cambridge children’s new school had many benefits for the family, including privacy and security. Kate with the Queen in 2012 (Oli Scarff/PA) (PA file) “Relocating to Adelaide Cottage on the ultra-private Home Park in Windsor takes away the goldfish-bowl aspect of Cambridge family life,” Mr Little said. “Apartment 1A at Kensington Palace is perfect in many ways, but the Duke and Duchess and their children cannot come and go as they would like or take advantage of nearby London parks due to ever-present privacy issues.” He added that having all three children at the same school made sense and would remove the “nightmare” journey from Kensington Palace to Battersea twice a day. “It also means that the cost of security, always a contentious issue, is much lower than if Louis had been at a different school to his brothers,” Mr Little said. (PA Graphics) (PA Graphics) However, royal commentator and former BBC royal correspondent Peter Hunt said the decision highlighted how the royal family was not facing the same financial difficulties as the rest of the nation. Mr Hunt said: “A third home for the Cambridges is a reminder that the royals are not suffering from the cost of living crisis and the impending recession in the same way as the rest of us. “When taxpayers’ money was spent refurbishing their flat in Kensington Palace, Prince William, who campaigns for homelessness, insisted his family planned to stay there for many years to come.” A royal source said William and Kate were “absolutely” aware of the cost of living crisis faced by many who could not afford such opportunities. The source: “It’s something they’ve thought long and hard about and this is a decision they haven’t taken lightly. “It would be extremely difficult for them to continue as senior members of the royal family if they were based in Norfolk.” Kensington Palace (Nicholas T Ansell/PA) (PA wire) It had long been reported that William had been granted a cottage called Tam-Na-Ghar by the Queen Mother on the Balmoral estate, but William does not lease or own the house – it is owned by the Crown Estate and is leased to third parties, the Palace said of Kensington. The Crown Estate, which holds property worth around £14.4 billion, is land and property owned by the sovereign but not privately held by the Queen. It is not managed by the Queen, but its income has something to do with how much money is given to her each year. Under the Sovereign Grant funding formula, which pays for expenses such as royal household salaries, official travel and maintenance of royal palaces, the Queen receives a percentage of Crown Estate profits for her official expenses. To help pay for a £369m refurbishment of Buckingham Palace, the proportion of Crown Estate profits paid into the Sovereign Grant rose from 15% to 25% over 10 years starting in 2017. The remaining profits go to the State.
