Wales Residences: Kensington Palace, Adelaide Cottage & Anmer Hall

[Queen Camilla]

Charles didn't purchase Highgrove until 1980. From 1966, until then, he stayed with his parents when not in school or the military.

If Charles did not have a place of his own at Sandringham nor at Balmoral prior to his grandmother's death then giving William a cottage at Balmoral when he was only 18 years old and now Anmer house is wrong.

William and Kate do not need live in staff. They did not have staff when they lived in Wales. George has not been left alone overnight with a nanny while they work except for Australia/New Zealand so a live-in is not needed.

Harry could have stayed at CH. If Charles can live with his mother until he was married so can Harry. With W&K at Nottingham Cottage, Harry had the entire upper floor of CH to himself.

 

[Osipi]

One thing about the estates of Sandringham and Balmoral, there are other residences besides the "big house" on the estate. I think William's use of a cottage at Balmoral was more or less that it was available for him to use should he want to. That's not to say that the domicile was primarily only William's and only William ever used it. With the amount of visitors that the Queen has when she is in residence, it always helps to keep the smaller homes and cottages in shape should they be needed.

I think a good comparison for William and Kate using Anmer Hall could be looking at where Diana was raised. I believe her childhood home was Park House (or something similar) on the Sandringham estate. There is also another cottage that I can't remember the name of where Sarah would stay to be close with her daughters over the Christmas holidays without actually staying at the Big House with the immediate royal family.

The sweet thing about these residences on the estates is that they don't stand empty and are used.

 

[Queen Camilla]

Sandringham Estates has 150 residential, commercial and agricultural properties on the estate.

Balmoral (based on my research) has at least 45 cottages included are those that can be rented by the general public.

 

[muriel]

Charles didn't purchase Highgrove until 1980. From 1966, until then, he stayed with his parents when not in school or the military.

If Charles did not have a place of his own at Sandringham nor at Balmoral prior to his grandmother's death then giving William a cottage at Balmoral when he was only 18 years old and now Anmer house is wrong.

William and Kate do not need live in staff. They did not have staff when they lived in Wales. George has not been left alone overnight with a nanny while they work except for Australia/New Zealand so a live-in is not needed.

Harry could have stayed at CH. If Charles can live with his mother until he was married so can Harry. With W&K at Nottingham Cottage, Harry had the entire upper floor of CH to himself.

I am not sure I get your point. How does it bother us if William has been allocated properties on the Balmoral and Sandringham estates? They are private properties, and HM is entitled to do what she wants with them. We also do not know for sure if he still uses the cottage on the Balmoral estate. He is meant to use Birkhall a reasonable amount as well now. Also, not that William and Catherine are establishing their base in London, Anmer can be their weekend retreat - quite like Charles, aged 32, acquired Balmoral, and Anne got Gotcombe.

Why should William live in Nott Cott? Why should William and Catherine not have the staff they want? We are not paying for the staff, they / the Duchy of Cornwall are. And why must Harry be made to stay at CH? He is nearly 30 and is entitled to his own home.

 

[Queen Camilla]

I am not sure I get your point. How does it bother us if William has been allocated properties on the Balmoral and Sandringham estates? They are private properties, and HM is entitled to do what she wants with them. We also do not know for sure if he still uses the cottage on the Balmoral estate. He is meant to use Birkhall a reasonable amount as well now. Also, not that William and Catherine are establishing their base in London, Anmer can be their weekend retreat - quite like Charles, aged 32, acquired Balmoral, and Anne got Gotcombe.

Why should William live in Nott Cott? Why should William and Catherine not have the staff they want? We are not paying for the staff, they / the Duchy of Cornwall are. And why must Harry be made to stay at CH? He is nearly 30 and is entitled to his own home.

I was responding to Iluvbertie's reply to my post.

I was comparing Charles to William.

Entitled is exactly the reason why William has an image problem.

Why is Harry entitled to have his own home, if his father at the same age was living with his mother? IIRC, Charles remained at BP until 1982 when KP was completed. I do not know if William had been born before or after they moved into KP. Charles was nearly 32 when he bought Highgrove. He was the heir.

The difference between Charles & William is Charles is the heir.
It is not just the position. Prince Charles uses Clarence House for meeting with his charities and foreign leaders. Charles' residence is also his place of business. He also used KP for the same reason. Not sure if Highgrove is used for meetings.

William's London townhome is only a private residence and is not used for meetings with world leaders.

Charles was already a full time royal when he was given a London townhome.
William is only part time and already has a London townhome.

(I personally hope Anmer House is for Princess Anne & her family but with the configuration of the driveway for security purposes it looks like William has bagged another residence.)

 

[muriel]

So what if William is not the heir at the moment. There is also no question that William and Catherine will be soon be full time royals and increase the number of royal engagements they undertake, as they already have over the last year or so.

Also, whilst William is not the heir at the moment, there is no doubt that in a few years time he will be the heir. And even though he is not the heir, they do have a much higher profile than a lot of other second in lines to the throne. Not many other people in their positions have the Obama's requesting time with!

In all likelihood, KP will be their home till he is King. Makes far more sense to provide them with a suitable family house now, that they will use for the next 20-25 years than have multiple house moves.

 

[cinrit]

The difference between Charles & William is Charles is the heir. It is not just the position. Prince Charles uses Clarence House for meeting with his charities and foreign leaders. Charles' residence is also his place of business. He also used KP for the same reason. Not sure if Highgrove is used for meetings.

William's London townhome is only a private residence and is not used for meetings with world leaders.

If by referring to a "townhome", you mean Apt. 1A, it is comprised of four floors. On the floors are conference rooms, reception rooms, rooms that can be used for social settings, an industrial-sized kitchen for catering, offices, etc., in addition to the requisite living quarters. The Cambridges are not in a position to entertain world leaders right now, but they will be in the future.

Cindy

 

[Skippyboo]

The Cambridges and Harry's staff is at Kensington Palace so it is their place of business too and probably the reason Harry moved to KP.

Charles does not actually own any homes personally. Highgrove and the house in Wales are own by the Duchy of Cornwall, Birkhall is part of the Queen's Balmoral estate.

William did the same thing as Charles did. He stayed with his parent until he got married and then moved out. Harry moved into a staff apartment at KP and then Nott Cottage. You know who used to live at Nott Cottage - Marion Crawford who was the teacher for Princess Elizabeth and Margaret . It isn't some lavish palace.


Sent from my iPhone using The Royals Community

 

[Dman]

I do think the Cambridge's will be meeting with world leaders and hosting official events in their home since it's their official London residence. The same as Charles and Camilla are doing at Clarence House, is the same William & Catherine will do at Kensington Palace.

William & Catherine will be based at Kensington Palace until they come to the throne, God's willing. So it's now their own official headquarters.

 

[TLLK]

I read that piece of history recently. I also read that the ceilings are low and that William had to watch his head.

 

[Queen Camilla]

Another fuss over William and Kate's London townhome is they added a second kitchen so Kate can play at happy homemaker.

Will William & Kate actually use their townhome to meet foreign leaders? Or if they have the opportunity to meet leaders will it happen at BP or CH or at the State Apartments in KP and not in their private townhome?

William was still using CH for meetings after he settled into his townhome (Apt 1A).

fyi, I believe it was York House at St. James' Palace that had the low ceiling that Harry didn't like. It would be strange for Harry to move into Nottingham Cottage (if he indeed did) if it has low ceilings.

 

[cinrit]

William lived at Nottingham Cottage, and he's as tall as Harry.

 

[Lee27]

How or where Charles lived prior to his marriage does not set in stone how William or Harry are suppose to live. Times have changed. Children do not live at home until they marry. When Charles married Diana he was the heir to the throne and both were expected to be full-time royals. William is in line for the throne, but won't be the heir for some time. For that reason, William was allowed to have more of a military career than Charles.

How William and Catherine spend their time, perform their royal duties and where they live are strongly influenced/directed by the Queen and Charles as well as the royal couriers.

As for William getting a house instead of Princess Anne & her family, the Queen owned the house and it is her decision as to who lives there.

 

[Osipi]

As for William getting a house instead of Princess Anne & her family, the Queen owned the house and it is her decision as to who lives there.

It is my understanding that the Queen gifted Anne and Mark Gatcombe Park at the time of their marriage. Once they divorced, Mark Philips and his second wife Sandy lived at Ashton Farms which separated from the Gatcombe Park estate at the time of his divorce from Anne. It is my belief that Ashton Farm now belongs to both Peter and Zara.

It was the same with Andrew and Sarah. The Queen gifted them Sunninghill as their marital home. Andrew sold it after the couple divorced and now leases Royal Lodge.

 

[Queen Camilla]

Size of Apt 1A in reference to State Apts & Clarence House

Comparisons based on old architectural drawings. Measurements for Apt 1A are based on an old Kensington Palace floor plan scale.

The measurement:

Kensington State Apts:
The width of Queen's Victoria's Bedroom combined with the King's Gallery equals approximately 115 feet.
The length of Queen's Victoria's Bedroom combined with the Ante Room equals 40 feet.
115 feet wide X 40 feet deep

Apt 1A: Total 31592 square feet
130 feet wide X 40 feet deep
Total 5200 square feet per floor X 4 floors.
Total 20800 square feet.

The original drawing shows Apt 1A as T shaped.
The top of the 'T' area is 19 feet wide X 142 feet long.
Total 2698 square feet per floor X 4 floors
Total square feet 10792

Total square feet for Apt 1A equals 31592 square feet.

Clarence House: Total 16704 square feet.
48 feet wide X 64 feet deep. (excluding the garden room)
The garden room is 26 feet wide X 20'6
Clarence might also include 2 small room across the horse corridor. If Clarence has been modified to include these rooms, it will measure:
74 feet wide X 64 feet deep excluding the large 'L' shaped open area.
Total per floor 4176. This includes the garden room & the 2 rooms & any hallways.
Total 16704 square feet.

Another way to compare is to count the number of windows.
Kensington Palace Apt 1A has 14 windows in the front.
Clarence House has 7 in the front and 9 on the side.
The top of the 'T' section of Apt 1A might be the staff offices.
Clarence House totals includes the staff offices.

 

[Queen Camilla]

I added up the square feet of each townhome & place the information under Camibridge residence.

Summary:
Clarence House: 16704
Cambridge Apt 1A: 31592

William and his staff need nearly twice the square footage of Charles and his staff.

 

[wyevale]

How has this thread come to be reduced to the square footage of the Princes respective residences ?

I hardly think these are considerations uppermost in the Queens mind when SHE makes these decisions...

 

[Queen Camilla]

Because what is next for William is to increase his royal duties in relation to the size of his London townhome.

 

[cepe]

How has this thread come to be reduced to the square footage of the Princes respective residences ?

I hardly think these are considerations uppermost in the Queens mind when SHE makes these decisions...

Maybe calculating for a contact to re-decorate?

There is a thread for Cambridge Residences' Perhaps a Mod could move this?

 

[Jacknch]

At this rate we'll end up discussing quantity, size and colour of toilet paper at Kensington Palace in comparison with brand, absorption and sheets-per-roll of kitchen towels at Clarence House......

 

[cepe]

Just love it.

 

[casualfan]

Because what is next for William is to increase his royal duties in relation to the size of his London townhome.

Then maybe you should direct your anger toward the Queen.

How many times does the obvious have to be repeated? The Queen controls the monarchy and the properties and the titles and the duties and everything else. We've seen no indication that she disapproves of William or Catherine. In fact, we've seen much the opposite, with the international events they're being allowed to do, the body language of the Queen toward them, etc.

 

[AdmirerUS]

Because what is next for William is to increase his royal duties in relation to the size of his London townhome.

I just want to say that as Americans, we have no reason to set the standards for appearance per sq ft of residence in another country.

And I think if you brought this measurement concept up to the Duke of Edinburgh, he would chuckle. I think if you surfaced the metric with the queen that you would get her "we are not amused" look.

These are people that make public appearances who sometimes don't even bother to announce where they will be or where they have been with accuracy. As far as they are concerned they are THE BENCHMARK for royal excellence. I tend to agree. But as an American, I think all I can share is a wish for something else, not a demand.

 

[Kellydofc]

At this rate we'll end up discussing quantity, size and colour of toilet paper at Kensington Palace in comparison with brand, absorption and sheets-per-roll of kitchen towels at Clarence House......

 

[Queen Camilla]

At the time of William & Kate's wedding, the Queen offered them a suite of rooms in BP. Charles offered them a suite of rooms in CH.

William and Kate selected the larger 1500 square feet 2 story detached single family residence with a garden. (Nottingham Cottage) If was not offered to them but selected by them.

When baby came along, again there were presented with options and they chose the larger house with the garden.

The ground floor and the gardens of Clarence House are opened to public.

The ground floor and gardens of Apt 1A are not opened to the public since selected as the residence of W&K.

There was a fuss over the Michaels not paying the going rate for their KP place. Diana when she tried to drop her charities was told to pay rent.

William & Kate are expected to pay for their London home by working for the firm.

The end results is the number of engagements. The public will not tolerate consistently low numbers from William while residing in government housing.

The Queen was happy supporting the Michaels but the public was not.

 

[wyevale]

I assume you, Queen Camilla are a 'realtor' ?

Nothing else explains this emphasis on square footage. a concept that isn't used in the UK property market, an would be completely baffling to HMQ, who MAKES THESE DECISIONS...

 

[muriel]

I added up the square feet of each townhome & place the information under Camibridge residence.

Summary:
Clarence House: 16704
Cambridge Apt 1A: 31592

William and his staff need nearly twice the square footage of Charles and his staff.

Where did you get this information from? CH must be a lot more than 16,000 sq ft.

 

[muriel]

At the time of William & Kate's wedding, the Queen offered them a suite of rooms in BP. Charles offered them a suite of rooms in CH.

William and Kate selected the larger 1500 square feet 2 story detached single family residence with a garden. (Nottingham Cottage) If was not offered to them but selected by them.

Is that a statement of fact or an assumption? Was a public statement made that indicated that what they chose was not offered to them? How else did they get it?

Was the full list of the potential options ever made public?

When baby came along, again there were presented with options and they chose the larger house with the garden.

When they moved to Nott Cott, it was announced that it was for a transitional period only, till their permanent home was ready. If I am not mistaken, the full list of the potential options was never made public.

The ground floor and the gardens of Clarence House are opened to public.

The ground floor and gardens of Apt 1A are not opened to the public since selected as the residence of W&K.

Apt 1A have NEVER been open to the paying public on an on-going basis, either when it was Margaret's home or after that. Parts of KP were, and remain open to the public, just as Clarence House is.

There was a fuss over the Michaels not paying the going rate for their KP place. Diana when she tried to drop her charities was told to pay rent.

William & Kate are expected to pay for their London home by working for the firm.

The end results is the number of engagements. The public will not tolerate consistently low numbers from William while residing in government housing.

The Queen was happy supporting the Michaels but the public was not.

That is just factually incorrect. Diana was still married to Charles, albeit she was separated at the time of her grand announcement in late 1993 that she was withdrawing from public duties. Her office and expenses were entirely funded by the Prince of Wales at the time, and if rent for Diana's apartment at KP was to be an issue, Charles would have had to fund it. Diana returned to public duties as she did not want to retreat from the limelight, despite her protestations to the contrary.

William & Kate are expected to pay for their London home by working for the firm.

By whom? Other than a few posters on some forums, I don't think this is considered a real live issue in the UK today.

 

[Queen Camilla]

Shadows of a Princess by Patrick Jephson is where Diana was told to pay for KP if she quit her charities.

Yes, William & Kate were given an option of housing.
A spokesman for the couple confirmed that Princess Margaret's former home is 'one of the options' being considered for their London home.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...e-starter-home-Kensington-Palace-grounds.html

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ukn...and-Kate-to-move-into-Dianas-former-home.html

After Margaret's death, the gardens & some of the rooms at A1 were opened to the public.

The architectural drawings are accurate. They give the dimensions of the rooms.

 

[GracieGiraffe]

Well, they might need the space. Maybe they want 20 kids like the Duggars. Kate can do up that tater tot casserole and the older princesses can mind the little ones.

Might be nice if their names all start with "G"... Gracie has a nice ring to it.