Wales Residences: Kensington Palace, Adelaide Cottage & Anmer Hall

[grevinnan]

Why on earth would William want to move into a new home with a statue of his mother outside. Much as Princess Margaret may have viewed the idea with distaste, I think it even worse outside William's home conjuring, as it does, images of memorials and homage to an idol.

However, let's get some perspective here. He is being challenged by the Mail, (the Mail, I ask you?) to fulfil a dream (his?) to replace the statue of his namesake, William III, with a statue of his mother, 14 years after the fact.

The dreams of a 15 year old boy and a 29 year old man may differ significantly. However, even if he was so disposed, I believe he would need the Queen's permission and somehow I don't think it would be forthcoming.

Royals and many other families with important histories are used to have their homes filled with photos, paintings and sculptures and statues of their ancestors. For them it is not strange and they see themselves as the next in line and their own children as continuing the family.

Whether it actually happens we will have to wait and see but William has lived his entire life surrounded by his ancestors to one more will not disturb his equilibrium.

 

[grevinnan]

I had a thought when I read about the asbestos removal needed in this apartment: wouldn't Princess Margaret have been exposed to this at the time she was living there? Just wondering.

The health risks of asbestos was not known until fairly recently. If you live in an older home you are surrounded by it.

 

[Kataryn]

R
Whether it actually happens we will have to wait and see but William has lived his entire life surrounded by his ancestors to one more will not disturb his equilibrium.

Oh, I'm quite sure he will place a picture of his mother in a silver frame somewhere on a desk or table. But I doubt he will want to remove the statue of a former king and replace it with a statue of his mother. Even though she was his mother, she was not longer a member of the RF and a HRH. Yes, I know he is said to have said that one day he would restore the HRH-title for Diana, but back then he was a young boy. Today he is the heir of the heir to the throne and must be very aware of the position his grandmother took when it ame to the divorces and that frm that perspective it is unthinkable to change the statues. Mother or not.

 

[EIIR]

Also, who exactly would pay for this sculpture? Donations were already made to build that awful fountain so it would be pushing the boundaries of taste to ask the public for more money. A large bronze sculpture would be very expensive. I somehow don't see William shelling out upwards of £100k of his own money to erect a stature of his mother.

 

[Lumutqueen]

I somehow don't see William shelling out upwards of £100k of his own money to erect a stature of his mother.

If it is his idea to erect a statue in his mothers honour, and he chooses to do this, then he should pay for it. And I am sure he will be willing to, if it is his dream.

 

[windsorgirl]

I would think Harry will simply follow William, and move into Margaret's place once William removes to Clarence House.

There's always the possibility that Charles will want to keep Clarence House as his London base, once King, if the rumors about him not wanting to use BP are true. Further, it might make more sense (in order to minimize moving) to put Harry in Clarence House if Charles vacates it. That way Harry just keeps CH permanently and, one day, W&K move directly from KP to BP. The scenarios are nearly endless! (Wish I had these problems )

 

[Lumutqueen]

If Charles doesn't use BP as his main home, then he won't use CH. He'll use Windsor. Clarence is too small to be his main residence.

 

[blauerengel]

Of course it is normal to have pictures and little reminders or gifts from your family around you,but a statue is different than a photo on the wall or a hand-painted picture.If the daily mail writes about this I don´t take it serious,they write so much stuff everyday and not even half of it is true or just completely insignificant.I hope this is just another one of their silly stories-as much as I adore and respect Princess Diana,I don´t think that Catherine should put up with constantly living in the shadows of Williams mother.They are both exceptional women but I believe that Catherine should be allowed to create her own image and be the kind of person she wants to be instead of trying to copy Diana or being forced to be like her.(Thinking about it, I am reminded of the story of "Rebecca" in which the dead wife continues to haunt the new bride...scary!)

 

[muriel]

Royals and many other families with important histories are used to have their homes filled with photos, paintings and sculptures and statues of their ancestors. For them it is not strange and they see themselves as the next in line and their own children as continuing the family.

Whether it actually happens we will have to wait and see but William has lived his entire life surrounded by his ancestors to one more will not disturb his equilibrium.

If William was that keen on having a statue of his mother, I am sure one would have been installed at Highgrove by now!

 

[Lumutqueen]

If William was that keen on having a statue of his mother, I am sure one would have been installed at Highgrove by now!

At highgrove? That's the last place I would ever assume a statue being built, considering it's Charles' pride and joy.

 

[blauerengel]

This is just too weird,I think Charles is the last person on the planet who would like to have a Diana statue in his garden!

 

[Thena]

To put things in perspective, William III was the monarch who acquired Kensington Palace and turned it into a royal residence. Besides William, it was also the childhood home of Queen Victoria. Prince Philip's grandmother, the Marchioness of Milford Haven, also lived there towards the end of her life. The site has had an extensive royal history long before Diana arrived on the scene and it would be short-sighted to forget about them. Of course, the Daily Mail can be counted on being short-sighted.

Besides, there's already a memorial playground at Kensington that is dedicated to Diana's memory. If people really want a statue, I think it would be more appropriate at the existing memorials.

 

[TLLK]

There's always the possibility that Charles will want to keep Clarence House as his London base, once King, if the rumors about him not wanting to use BP are true. Further, it might make more sense (in order to minimize moving) to put Harry in Clarence House if Charles vacates it. That way Harry just keeps CH permanently and, one day, W&K move directly from KP to BP. The scenarios are nearly endless! (Wish I had these problems )

CH has been renovated and with the larger apartments at KP being renovated then these residences can possibly be used far into the future for King Charles and his family. As the Queen's cousins are also occupying apartments at KP perhaps having more of the palace filled by full time royals is a cost saving measure for the future. There would be fewer residences to protect if more members of the family are housed at KP as their London base. Also any retrofitting for the apartments can bring them up to date in regards to heating, electrical needs etc..while maintaining a historic site.

Perhaps Buckingham Palace will become like the royal palaces in Madrid and Amsterdam with a primary function of being a museum/reception/banquet facility for the BRF and the UK government rather than a residence/office for the family.

 

[Baroness of Books]

The health risks of asbestos was not known until fairly recently. If you live in an older home you are surrounded by it.

Well, yes, I realize that, but I was just wondering how much of PM's health could have been compromised living in a dwelling containing asbestos. Not having been aware of the risks meant she was unwittingly exposed to them, even though her health suffered due to heavy cigarette smoking. Breathing in asbestos could have further exacerbated her overall condition, IMO.

And it definitely seems the Daily Mail is trying to stir the pot up by almost daring William to erect a statue of his mother at KP.

 

[muriel]

If William was that keen on having a statue of his mother, I am sure one would have been installed at Highgrove by now!

At highgrove? That's the last place I would ever assume a statue being built, considering it's Charles' pride and joy.

This is just too weird,I think Charles is the last person on the planet who would like to have a Diana statue in his garden!

That was just a tongue-in-cheek comment. I really do think that if William wanted a statue of Diana, he can stick it in his home, whether it be KP or in Wales.

As to whether a statue of Diana needs to be commissioned for a public place, a high powered committee chaired by then Chancellor Gordon Brown and comprising amongst others, members of the Spencer family, looked into a befitting memorial for the former Princess and decided on the fountain. I would be surprised if there were any further public memorials of Diana.

 

[Baroness of Books]

And if a public Diana statue is really considered, an appropriate place would be the memorial park as well, IMO.

 

[sirhon11234]

As to whether a statue of Diana needs to be commissioned for a public place, a high powered committee chaired by then Chancellor Gordon Brown and comprising amongst others, members of the Spencer family, looked into a befitting memorial for the former Princess and decided on the fountain. I would be surprised if there were any further public memorials of Diana.

The fountain, playground, and walk are fitting memorials to the Princess. I'm sure William, Harry, and all of Diana's loved one's have photos and mementos of her. There really isn't a need for a statue. The DM article is pure nonsense. It was probably a slow day and an article on the royals had to be written.

 

[Baroness of Books]

Agreed, I'm sure there are enough memorials to Diana that will keep her constantly in the forefront of everyone's mind.

 

[sirhon11234]

Is Margret's apartment the biggest? I thought the biggest apartment belonged to the Michaels of Kent. Anyway Kate will need an interior decorator to modernize the place a bit.

 

[Count langley]

Princess Margaret's former Apt 1A has often been referred to as the "grandest" of he Royal Apartments at Kensington Palace, apart from the State Apartments. Once of the elements that was "perhaps" appealing to the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge was the private walled garden that adjoins the palace.

Prince and Princess Michael's apartment (no. 10) is not that large by royal standards.

 

[Kataryn]

William and Kate benefit from Kensington Palace U-turn - Telegraph

An interesting article. Somewhere on the internet, when Kensington Palace was dicussed, there used to be a link towards a page, which showed that Apartment 1A (well, some rooms of it) were open to the public as part of the Kensington Palace Museum. Later, these informations were removed, when they closed the Palace for renovation and used only some rooms for the exhibition "Enchanted Palace".They only offered some rooms as rental rooms for events.

So my guess is that the Queen after Margaret's death had no further use for the apartment and gave it to the museum but got it back now that the Royal family has developped and need arose. No big deal, as it wasn't used as a display of Royal life in the 60ties any longer. It's not as if daily hundreds of visitors to the museum enjoyed the walled garden who are now shut out.

 

[expat]

The apartment has 20 bedrooms, something any young couple starting out in marriage needs!

 

[Anna Catherine]

Well, considering those twenty rooms consists of EVERY major room in the apartment, I think it's big enough besides by that time they will be thinking about having or will have a child hopefully. Anyway, if it were a house it would be a very nice size house. Very large plus the four floors thing. But anyway.......

There's always the possibility that Charles will want to keep Clarence House as his London base, once King...

Thats what I was going to say. William And Catherine don't have to move to Clarence House. They may really love Kensington Palace and just stay until he ascends the throne. That would be perfectly fine. It has plenty of space. If they begin to feel crowded, they can move somewhere else.

 

[Kataryn]

IIRC the belle-etage of Princess Margaret's apartment consisted of a private and an official dining-room, a lounge, a living-room, Margaret's salon, Snowdon's study and another room. Downstairs was the kitchen and Margaret's garden room, a conservatory and the garden. Plus some work rooms for staff. So in the two upper stories must have been bedrooms plus bathrooms, the nursery etc. If you want to use your home for private and official receptions, it's just the right size.

 

[Nice Nofret]

As they also want to have their offices at Kensington, some of the rooms might be used for that.

For me it sounds like they plan to stay in Kensington Palace till Will becomes King. - With Kids and in not too far future beeing THE prince of Wales - it's a sound decision - so they won't need more moving around (which is a costly thing)

 

[TLLK]

As they also want to have their offices at Kensington, some of the rooms might be used for that.

For me it sounds like they plan to stay in Kensington Palace till Will becomes King. - With Kids and in not too far future beeing THE prince of Wales - it's a sound decision - so they won't need more moving around (which is a costly thing)

Agreed. With costly renovations being made to the apartment (heating, plumbing, rewiring, security updates and any needed structural repairs) it makes sense for the Cambridges to remain in one residence for as long as possible.

 

[Mirabel]

The DM is already stirring up superstitious nonsense about the curse of Kensington:

Kate Middleton and the curse of Kensington Palace: Can she escape? | Mail Online

 

[Baroness of Books]

Well, that's certainly an interesting history lesson about KP which I read with interest, but the story is obviously written for the usual objective of attracting readers. Makes you wonder, though, if they're hoping for some ghoulish circumstances to befall Will and Kate to really bump up readership.

 

[Mirabel]

Well, that's certainly an interesting history lesson about KP which I read with interest, but the story is obviously written for the usual objective of attracting readers. Makes you wonder, though, if they're hoping for some ghoulish circumstances to befall Will and Kate to really bump up readership.

Of course they probably are doing just that.
Considering the number of people who've lived at KP, it would be strange if there weren't some tragedies!

 

[Baroness of Books]

Yes, in its long 300-year history you do have to expect a certain amount of unfortunate circumstances to take place, including having a resident ghost. If only the DM didn't sound like it's waiting for the axe to fall on Will and Kate just because there's supposedly a "curse" on KP.