Attention, everyone who thinks Kate Middleton and Prince William live inside the hallowed-and-almost-definitely-haunted halls of Buckingham Palace…they do not! Kate and William typically live in an apartment at Kensington Palace (kay, it’s less of an “apartment” and more like a giant mansion), but lately, they’ve been spending most of their time chilling at their country home, Anmer Hall.
In the past, Kate and William would hang out at Anmer Hall only over the holidays and weekends, when their kids weren’t in school. But they’ve been spending more time at ye olde Hall than usual during the coronavirus pandemic, so it’s time for us to ~go inside~. Not literally, of course, because that would be illegal, lol.
Anmer Hall Is Part of the Sandringham Estate
In case you aren’t an expert on the Queen’s multiple palaces, Sandringham is where she and the royal family spend their holidays. And as far as palaces go, it’s very fancy:
But Sandringham is more than just one massive mini castle. It’s a whole damn estate in Norfolk, and Anmer Hall happens to be located on it—just two miles from the Queen’s residence. The “Hall” itself is actually a two-story Georgian home built in the 18th century, which was previously used by the Duke and Duchess of Kent as a country house and then by a close friend of Prince Charles named Hugh van Cutsem. Really unclear why my close friends aren’t putting me up in massive halls that are secretly mansions masquerading as country homes, but whatever, here’s Anmer Hall in all its glory:
It Was Given to William and Kate by the Queen
While the rest of us were getting $25 checks from our grandmothers, the Queen was busy giving William and Kate a whole-ass HALL as their wedding gift. Of course, it was a bit of a “fixer-upper.” Turns out £1.5 million had to be spent refurbishing the property for the duke and duchess, which was paid for by the royals (not the British taxpayer) and included a new roof, a new kitchen, and a ton of new trees to make sure Wills and Kate had ample privacy.
And all that work paid off because William and Kate have spent a ton of time at Anmer Hall! In fact, they actually lived there full-time from 2013 to 2017 when William was a pilot and only moved to Kensington Palace so Prince George could start school and they could be closer to some of their royal engagements.
Yes, We Have Pics of the Inside
Thanks to William and Kate doing a million Zooms over the course of the pandemic just like the rest of us, we’ve caught glimpses inside several of their rooms. Let’s see, we have what appears to be William’s study:
The couple’s living room:
And even the outside of their property (with an added bonus: cute kids):
Did I Mention It’s Worth £30 Million?
Yeah. Let’s just say that if the whole “being a duke and duchess” thing doesn’t work out, William and Kate can always sell Anmer Hall and call it a day.
There Was Some Anmer Hall–Based Drama in 2019
A couple of years ago, William and Kate had to deal with a whole slew of rumors surrounding Kate’s “rural rival” (a term the British tabloids made up), Rose Hanbury, the Marchioness of Cholmondeley. TL;DR: Rose and her husband live super close to Anmer Hall and run in the same social circle as the Cambridges, and there were some false (I repeat: false! fake! untrue!) rumors about Rose and Wills’ vibes. You can read more about that awk era over here, but yeah…for a hot second, nary a day went by when poor Anmer Hall wasn’t being mentioned in a story!
Sooo, Can You Visit?
Nope! Obviously, Kate and William’s private home isn’t open to the public, but one can visit parts of the Sandringham Estate, including the gardens.
