Prince William and Princess Kate are set to move into their “forever home” just three years after relocating to Adelaide Cottage in Windsor from Kensington Palace. The royal couple, along with their three children, Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis, will move into Forest Lodge on the Windsor Great Park estate later this year. According to reports, renovation works are currently being carried out ahead of their move-in date, to modernise the property slightly, but there were some major plans for this grand residence that were once rejected. Here’s everything you need to know…
The original house was built in the 1770s and called Holly Grove. It has been remodelled over the years, with one of the designs, pitched by Humphrey Repton, being discarded before any changes could take place.
© Getty ImagesForest Lodge, formerly known as Holly Grove in Windsor Great Park, Berkshire, pictured in 2018.
There’s a pencil drawing, embellished with ink revealed by The Royal Collection Trust which shows the incredibly ornamental and extravagant design in full.
The plans included statement Chinese and Indian architectural motifs that were in style at the time.
The full information on the RCT website reads: “A pencil, pen and ink and grey wash design for a highly ornamental villa. Inscribed on the verso, ‘Mrs Jenning’s Windsor Park’, and ‘by Nash’ in a later hand.
“The drawing is by Humphrey Repton and relates to his plans for Holly Grove, a property in Windsor Great Park bought by Lady Jennings Clerke in 1792. Repton put together designs to transform the house into a building with elements inspired by both Chinese and Indian architectural motifs. Buildings in this ‘chinoiserie’ style were highly fashionable at this date, as exemplified by the Royal Pavilion at Brighton. However, Repton’s designs were not carried out. The building is now known as Forest Lodge.”
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Prince Edward and Duchess Sophie have a distinct Indian influence in their royal home, Bagshot Park, with their Billiard room being decked out with intricate, carved panelling.
Sophie in her grand Billiards room
Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught was inspired by a trip to India and commissioned the room transformation, which in the end took two whole years to create.
Why are Prince William and Princess Kate moving?
Kensington Palace announced William and Kate’s move, releasing a statement that simply read: “The Wales family will move house later this year.”
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While the palace hasn’t elaborated on the move, Danielle Stacey, HELLO!’s Online Royal Correspondent, has pointed out that this would be for more space, considering they are moving from a four-bed house to an eight-bed one.
© Getty, ShutterstockThe property Kate and William are moving out of
“Upsizing to Forest Lodge allows the family more space and has already been viewed as their ‘forever home,’ rather than having the children growing up within the walls of a palace,” she said.
But there are a number of reasons that the move is only a few miles down the road.
© Getty ImagesThe green space around Forest Lodge, Windsor Great Park, Berkshire, 2018
She explained: “The Prince and Princess of Wales clearly love living in Windsor, the children are settled at Lambrook School nearby, and they will still be close to Windsor Castle for royal functions and engagements.