Prince William and Kate Middleton’s Reported Plans for Their New Home Hint at a Royal Tradition They Don’t Plan to Follow
The couple reportedly plan to remain in their new Windsor home even after William becomes King, rather than moving to Buckingham Palace in London.

Earlier this month, the Prince and Princess of Wales made headlines when news broke that the couple and their children had settled on a "forever home" and plan to move before the end of the year.
That forever home is Forest Lodge, in Windsor, and People reports that the royal couple hope to move in before Christmas, noting that a spokesperson at Kensington Palace confirmed that “the Wales family will move house later this year."
While Kate Middleton and Prince William and their children, Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis, will be staying in Windsor, they're trading in cozym four-bedroom Adelaide Cottage for a much larger, eight-bedroom home.
Kate Middleton and Prince William are set to move Prince Louis, Prince George, and Princess Charlotte into their new home, Forest Lodge in Windsor.
According to The Sun , the Wales family will be paying for the move and rent at no extra cost to the taxpayer and royal insiders say they are hoping for a “fresh start” in their home, after going through many difficult times, including Queen Elizabeth II's death and both Kate and King Charles' recent battles with cancer, in recent years.
"Windsor has become their home. However, over the last few years while they have lived at Adelaide Cottage there have been some really difficult times," a royal source told the BBC. "Moving gives them an opportunity for a fresh start and a new chapter. It's an opportunity to leave some of the more unhappy memories behind."
According to the BBC, Will and Kate are said to see the move as being "for the long-term" and reportedly view Forest Lodge as their "forever home," where they intend to live as a family even "when the Prince and Princess of Wales become King and Queen."
Reports like these hint that Will and Kate have no plans to follow royal tradition by making Buckingham Palace their primary residence when William becomes King. Of course, Will and Kate wouldn't be the first royals to skip this particular tradition. Notably, King Charles reportedly isn't interested in relocating to the royal family's iconic London residence even after its current renovations are complete.
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"One concession to his health and advancing years that has been made, however, is that it appears unlikely he will ever move from Clarence House to Buckingham Palace after the restoration is completed in three year's time," The Telegraph's associate editor, Camilla Tominey, wrote in a report about the monarch's health and its impact on where he'll reside.
As for Will and Kate, although a move is always a big change, People reports that the couple plans to keep many things about their lives exactly the same when they make the move from Adelaide Cottage to Forest Lodge.
"In a bid to make their family life as normal as possible for the children, the Prince and Princess of Wales also will not have any live-in staff at Forest Lodge," the outlet reported, adding that the Wales children's long-time nanny, Maria Turrion Borrallo, and the family's housekeepers will likely stay on other smaller properties on the estate.
Kayleigh Roberts is a freelance writer and editor with over 10 years of professional experience covering entertainment of all genres, from new movie and TV releases to nostalgia, and celebrity news. Her byline has appeared in Marie Claire, Cosmopolitan, ELLE, Harper’s Bazaar, The Atlantic, Allure, Entertainment Weekly, MTV, Bustle, Refinery29, Girls’ Life Magazine, Just Jared, and Tiger Beat, among other publications. She's a graduate of the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University.