Soaring dolphins 3d picture3/5/2023 Louis is likely to enjoy ‘Forest Fridays’ when youngsters in reception are encouraged to get muddy and build dens. Classrooms are well equipped and airy with children studying everything from French, design and technology and, from year 5, Latin.ĭrama and music (there’s even a resident bagpipe teacher) are big on the agenda – perfect for George and Charlotte who are keen on both – while its ‘Diamond Jubilee Centre’ is described by The Good Schools Guide as ‘one of the best prep performing arts facilities we’ve come across’.īut the big draw is the 52 acres in which children can ‘run and run’, provided they’ve got their wellies on.Įvery class has its veggie patch, pupils collect eggs from rescue chickens, newly restored to good health and refeathered, beehives produce Lambrook honey and children can stroke pet rabbits at lunchtime. The hefty fees pay for some top-class facilities. Its fees are at the sharper end of the scale, rising as children get older to £20,997 a year for day pupils – meaning the duke and duchess will be shelling out more than £50,000 a year.īut it is not the sort of place where money can get you in, with the school unafraid to turn away parents who they believe don’t fit in with their ethos. ‘There’ll be hundreds of people at a match tea and he’ll say, “Ah, Mrs X, would you like an egg sandwich?”,’ it trills. The duke and duchess toured Ludgrove, the duke’s alma mater (dismissed because it was boys’ only) He has four residences of his own, Clarence House in London Highgrove, Gloucestershire Birkhall on the Balmoral estate and Llwynywermod in Wales. No one straddles that predicament quite like Prince Charles who leads the crusade to shrink the size and scale of the Royal Family. But if those core members are seen to have multiple homes it invalidates the entire approach.’įor the public expect to see not more homes but fewer. ‘On the one hand we are preaching a smaller institution based on core members of the family. ‘As always it’s the optics,’ says a seasoned courtier. One theme hard to ignore yesterday was questioning how the latest move tallied with long-standing plans for a slimmed-down monarchy. They also took on the renovation of Anmer Hall, where they re-routed a driveway, built a conservatory and replaced rotting window frames.īut it is when public money is involved that criticism takes off. In the early days of their marriage William and Kate settled in low-key Nottingham Cottage (circled) at Kensington Palace Meanwhile, the Cambridges are retaining all their other homes and their office staff will continue to be based at Kensington Palace. Wanting to be close to his 96-year-old grandmother was another powerful reason for William to make the move. The duchess has happy memories of her own upbringing in the countryside and the cottage’s location means George and his siblings will be less than an hour away from their Middleton grandparents, Carole and Michael, at Bucklebury, Berkshire.Ĭrucially, with the Queen now based full time at Windsor Castle, occupying a house only minutes away places the couple at the heart of royal life. Indeed by royal standards the 200-year-old house is positively modest and certainly has neither the proportions nor grandeur of their palace apartment or ten-bedroom Anmer Hall on which they are said to have lavished £1.5million, paid for mostly from Royal Family private funds.Ĭertainly moving to Windsor represents both practical and strategic sense to this attractive young family. Now Adelaide Cottage joins Kensington Palace and Anmer Hall (pictured in 2013) – their country retreat in Norfolk – as part of an impressive portfolio of properties Naturally, it is only fair to point out that Prince William and Kate are meeting the cost of renting Adelaide Cottage themselves and that, because of its location within Windsor Home Park, it needs, we are told, no extra taxpayer-funded security nor a costly refurbishment. So do William and Kate really need this third property? And if so could they not have put one of the remaining houses in mothballs or even – daringly – announced that they would stop using one of them altogether? But gestures are like smiles and royal waves. No one deludes themselves that moderation could make much difference to a family whose head is one of the richest women in the world with a personal fortune of £365million. It is, after all, not that long since their grand Kensington Palace home (pictured in 2021) was extensively renovated with £4.5million of taxpayers’ moneyĪs government ministers grapple with the economy and households confront the prospect of ever-soaring energy bills and rocketing food prices, where else should people be able to look for a bit of moral support than the Royal Family?
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