Moving day is officially approaching for Prince William and Kate Middleton.
Multiple outlets, including the Times of London, report that the Prince and Princess of Wales will soon live at Forest Lodge in Windsor. The news comes after weeks of rumors about a relocation from their current home of Adelaide Cottage. Previous articles suggested that Fort Belvedere, the former home of the Duke of Windsor, was on the table.
Yet the couple has settled on a different, yet equally grand property. The eight-bedroom, Georgian-style home (which dates back to the 1750s) is nestled within the 4,800 acres of Windsor Great Park. Its brick facade features stucco pilasters as well as an expansive view: “From both fronts the house commands varied and extensive views of the forest, the Great Park, the castle and town of Windsor, with a fine stretch of distant country,” wrote Jane Roberts in her 1997 book Royal Landscape: The Gardens and Parks of Windsor. She also found that accounts of the home from the 1800s mentioned a garden by Humphry Repton. (Although no modern reports have confirmed whether it still exists.) Also on the grounds? A tennis court, a paddock, and a small lake. And inside, you’ll find both a sitting and drawing room boasting marble fireplaces.
Forest Lodge has long been tipped as a property fit for a high-profile royal: in the 1970s, it was rumored that Princess Anne would receive the grace-and-favor house from the Queen. Meanwhile, in the 2000s, Forest Lodge was touted as a possible home for Sarah Ferguson, the ex-wife of Prince Andrew. Neither ended up moving in. Yet for the Waleses—whose children go to the nearby Lambrook School—it seems like the perfect fit.
It’s reported that Prince William, Kate Middleton, and their three children George, Charlotte, and Louis, will move into the property sometime around Christmas. For the Waleses, it looks like there will be a new home just in time for the holidays.
