Adelaide Cottage is a Grade II listed building from 1831, meaning it’s older than your great-grandma’s recipe for fruitcake. The previous tenant was some royal equerry, but now it’s the Waleses, and they’ve kept the décor famously low-key: think cozy sofas, no gold-plated toilets, and a kitchen that probably still has a normal fridge. The best part? It’s right by the playground at Windsor Great Park, so Charlotte can demand ice cream without a chariot ride.
But wait—there’s also Anmer Hall, their country bolt-hole in Norfolk. This is the real “cottage” (ten bedrooms, but who’s counting?) where they hide from the London paparazzi and let the kids run wild on the beach. It was a wedding gift from the Queen, which is like getting a tiny house as a wedding present—if that tiny house has its own tennis court and a swimming pool shaped like a duck pond.
London Life: The Other Pad
When they’re in London for official business, they crash at Kensington Palace, Apartment 1A. That’s the same four-story joint where William lived as a kid with Diana, and spoiler alert—it’s not a “pad” in the cool bachelor sense. It’s a 20-room palace wing with a separate nursery floor and a kitchen so big you could cook a Thanksgiving turkey for the entire Royal Navy. The official address? Kensington Palace, London W8. That’s right—no zip code, no street number, just “Kensington Palace,” like you’re writing to a minor character in a Jane Austen novel.
Fun fact: They don’t own any of these properties. The royal portfolio is basically a giant timeshare owned by the Crown Estate, so William and Kate are essentially the world’s most famous renters. If the plumbing breaks, they call the royal plumber, who probably arrives in a carriage. Surprise! The “cottage” they live in has a thatched roof that costs more to insure than most people’s houses.
