Prince William Had a Hilarious Reaction When He Learned His Country Home, Anmer Hall, is Haunted

Prince William closeup — (Image credit: Getty)

It is half-term break for Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis, and the three—along with their parents, the Prince and Princess of Wales—are likely spending some quality time together at their beloved country home, Anmer Hall, on the grounds of the Sandringham estate in Norfolk.

The Georgian mansion was a wedding present to William and Kate from the late Queen Elizabeth back in 2011, and, lo and behold, is haunted—but when William found out about this, he didn’t wince, paranormal historian Richard Felix said.

“When the Prince of Wales and Princess of Wales moved into Anmer Hall, it’s more or less on the Sandringham estate, there was a ghost there of a Catholic priest that lived there and was hanged, drawn, and quartered for high treason, and for some reason, has returned to his home,” Felix said on a recent episode of Hello’s “A Right Royal Podcast.” “Although he was executed in York, they’ve actually heard his voice. And they have seen the ghost of what they say is a priest wandering around Anmer Hall. Before the Waleses moved in, they were warned about the ghost and the comment was, I presume it was from Prince William, he said, ‘No old hall would be complete without a ghost, would it?’”

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Per People, when speaking of the ghost, Felix was likely referring to Henry Walpole, the Jesuit priest who was executed in 1595 for his faith, according to The Tudor Society. “Legend has it that he returned to his family’s Anmer Hall home after death, with his spirit being seen roaming the grounds,” People reports.

The family of five often spends school breaks, holidays, and weekends at Anmer Hall, about 110 miles north of London. The ghost story about the property emerges just in time for spooky season—but the Waleses will be home at Adelaide Cottage in time for Halloween on October 31, as school resumes at Lambrook the day prior. George, Charlotte, and Louis participate in trick-or-treating just like other kids their age, by the way—this past January, London resident Jay Rutland shared a photo of Kate taking the trio trick-or-treating last Halloween, Hello reports.

“For anyone doubting how down to earth William and Kate are, this is Kate with their kids knocking on our door in London trick-or-treating at Halloween,” he captioned the photo, the outlet reports.

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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.