There’s been a fair bit of gossip about the living arrangements of Prince William and Kate Middleton, as the Royal pair have revealed their plans to relocate to their brand new forest lodge home later this year. This eight-bedroom house on the Windsor Castle estate will be their new abode with their three children.
Since 2022, William and Kate have resided in their current home, Adelaide Cottage, after relocating from Kensington Palace. It’s fair to say they’ve had some rather grand homes over the years, including a stint living in Wales during one chapter of their lives.
From 2010 to 2013, the Royal couple resided on the Isle of Anglesey, or Ynys Môn.
This was while William was employed as a search and rescue pilot with the RAF, whose base is situated near Bodorgan.
Prior to their engagement, William and Kate moved into a property on the Newborough estate, a rural part of Anglesey’s western side, reports Wales Online.
Nearby villages include Bodorgan, Newborough, and Malltraeth, according to The Express.
The house they stayed in was an old, white-stoned farmhouse, believed to be Prince George’s first home, as Kate and William returned to Anglesey for a few weeks following his birth in London.
Given that most of Anglesey is rural, with only small villages and farms, Kate was able to go about her daily activities without much fuss according to reports, while William was at work.
She was seen in Llangefni, buying dog food at the local pet shop, and in Menai Bridge, doing her weekly grocery shop at the only Waitrose on Anglesey.
Looking back on his and Kate’s time on Anglesey, Prince William said: “This island has been our first home together, and it will always be an immensely special place for us both. Catherine and I look forward to returning again and again over the coming years with our family.
“I know that I speak for Catherine when I say that I have never in my life known somewhere as beautiful and as welcoming as Anglesey.”
Yet, during a visit to a children’s centre in Cardiff in 2020, nearly 10 years later, Kate admitted that she felt rather isolated whilst living there.
She disclosed: “I was chatting to some of the mums, I had just had George and William was still working with search and rescue, so we came up here when George was a tiny, tiny little baby, in the middle of Anglesey.
“It was so isolated, so cut off, I didn’t have my family around me, he was doing night shifts, so if only I’d had a centre like this at a certain time.”
The pair lived in Bodorgan Hall, a four-bedroom farmhouse featuring a Welsh slate roof sourced locally and many large windows, providing stunning views of the nearby sea and the Eryri mountains. The property provides the chance to take a leisurely walk through Newborough Forest to Llanddwyn beach, and then along the sands to Llanddwyn Island, once the dwelling of Dwynwen, the Welsh patron saint of love.
The estate is acknowledged as an Area of Outstanding Beauty and Environmentally Sensitive Area, primarily due to its encompassing woodland and beach. It also features a circular dovecote, barn, extensive gardens, a lawn, and a deer park.
The house was built between 1779 and 1782, with significant additions made in the mid-19th century.
Kate and William reportedly paid a modest £750 per month in rent to Sir George Meyrick, the owner of the property and the estate on which it stands, the largest estate on Anglesey.
The house consisted of two bathrooms, a living room, a dining room, a kitchen, and four bedrooms.
After their wedding in 2011, and again following the birth of Prince George, the Royal couple returned to Bodorgan Hall.
Carole Middleton stayed with Kate and William to help with the newborn, and according to reports at the time, the Queen’s former housekeeper Antonella Fresolone travelled to the island to cook for them.
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