From Windsor to California: what this year’s royal property decisions reveal about the British Royal Family today

Prince William and Princess Kate have been through an incredibly difficult 18 months, and it’s no surprise, therefore that they’re looking for a fresh start on the home front to mark the next phase of their lives together.

After a decade of shifting between homes, the couple is leaving the pink-walled Adelaide Cottage for Forest Lodge, an eight-bedroom Georgian mansion hidden inside Windsor Great Park. With its classical proportions, sash windows, and sweeping drive, it’s certainly grand – the house is being billed as their “forever base,” even once William takes the throne.

Forest Lodge marks the end of a series of moves, typical of young families. In the past ten years alone, William and Kate have gone from Anglesey, where they lived as newlyweds in a modest farmhouse while William flew helicopters, to Kensington Palace, where Apartment 1A became their London base, to Anmer Hall in Norfolk for family life in the country.

Their 2022 move to Adelaide Cottage in Windsor was seen by many as a down-to-earth retreat (it’s all relative, of course). It’s compact by royal standards, with a pretty pastel exterior and just four bedrooms.

Forest Lodge is a different story and sets the family up for years to come – including William’s future ascension. The scale alone makes it a statement of permanence. Where Adelaide was cottage-cozy, Forest Lodge is all Georgian symmetry, high ceilings, and formal gardens – the sort of home designed to carry a family through generations. It also signals how the next King and Queen envision their domestic life – a more laid-back location than Central London, mixing grandeur with privacy.

That privacy comes at a cost. A vast “no-go zone” has been enforced around the estate, blocking off miles of Windsor Great Park and angering locals. Yet the Waleses appear set on turning Forest Lodge into their anchor, with Anmer Hall remaining their country bolt-hole and Kensington Palace reserved for official duties.

This move also throws Buckingham Palace’s future into question. King Charles has made no secret of his dislike of the palace as a home, preferring Clarence House in London and the lived-in comfort of Highgrove and Balmoral to the famous 18th-century Palace.

Renovations will keep it uninhabitable for years, and William is expected to follow his father’s lead, keeping the Palace as a ceremonial and administrative headquarters rather than a family residence.

And then there’s Harry, who has spent much of September beginning to rebuild bridges with his father and brother on a London visit. Yet the approach the two brothers take to their homes couldn’t be more different. While his brother embraces Georgian grandeur, Harry and Meghan’s California life is all pared-back, “Cali cool” styling – white walls, olive trees, sprawling outdoor spaces. Their Montecito mansion is a far cry from Windsor’s formality, with Meghan’s kettle making its way into lifestyle inboxes rather than glimpses of gilded drawing rooms.

The contrast couldn’t be starker. One brother is reshaping the royal map of Britain, settling his family into the leafy permanence of Windsor Great Park. The other is half a world away, exporting his own brand of casual luxury. Together, they mark the biggest royal shake-up in decades – not just in where the royals live, but in the very style of how they choose to live.