Prince George’s First Birthday Present from Grandfather Prince Charles Cost £18,000

Prince Charles, Prince George, Prince William, Kate Middleton

(Image credit: Samir Hussein / WireImage for Getty Images)

published 20 May 2022

What does one future king get another future king for the latter’s first birthday? A playhouse—but make it fancy, to the tune of £18,000 (!).

Prince George received a pricy playhouse, installed at his grandfather the Prince of Wales’ home in Highgrove, for his first birthday, according to the Mirror.

“Given the hefty price tag, you’d expect this playhouse to be a bit more impressive than your usual children’s Wendy house,” the outlet said, using a term often used in the U.K. for a small playhouse for children—one that is large enough, though, for one or more children to enter. “With a wood-burning stove and a day bed, it’s safe to say that Prince George’s version is rather more upmarket.”

The expensive playhouse is installed in the garden of Charles’ country home, where now not only George but also his younger siblings Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis play. It features a hand-built shepherd’s hut, a Victorian-style 12 foot by 6 foot playhouse and can be seen by visitors to the 15-acre gardens of Charles’ estate during a guided tour.

And, though the price tag is steep, it seems the playhouse may have been a gift: “The hut was presented to Prince George for his birthday from Dorset-based company Plankbridge as a thank you for funding received from the Prince’s Trust,” the Mirror reported.

And that’s not the only attraction for the three Cambridge kids in the Highgrove gardens—there’s also a treehouse that was built for the kids’ dad, Prince William, in 1989, when he was seven years old. The wooden house on slate stilts has since been refurbished by Charles for his grandchildren to play in, over 30 years later.

Rachel Burchfield is a writer, editor, and podcaster whose primary interests are fashion and beauty, society and culture, and, most especially, the British Royal Family and other royal families around the world. She serves as Marie Claire’s Senior Celebrity and Royals Editor and has also contributed to publications like Allure, Cosmopolitan, Elle, Glamour, Harper’s Bazaar, InStyle, People, Vanity Fair, Vogue, and W, among others. Before taking on her current role with Marie Claire, Rachel served as its Weekend Editor and later Royals Editor. She is the cohost of Podcast Royal, a show that was named a top five royal podcast by The New York Times. A voracious reader and lover of books, Rachel also hosts I’d Rather Be Reading, which spotlights the best current nonfiction books hitting the market and interviews the authors of them. Rachel frequently appears as a media commentator, and she or her work has appeared on outlets like NBC’s Today Show, ABC’s Good Morning America, CNN, and more.