The homes at the heart of the great royal property triangle

The fight for Royal Lodge, Prince Andrew’s 30-room mansion in Windsor Great Park, is becoming quite a stand-off. 

Will the prince give way to pressure from his older brother, the King, and give up his home of two decades?

So far he is resisting. With his his name on the lease from the independent Crown Estate, Andrew claims he’s staying put even though most believe Royal Lodge is earmarked for Prince William.

Could financial pressure force Andrew to bite the bullet and downsize to Frogmore Cottage, recently vacated by Harry and Meghan?

And would William and family then leave Adelaide Cottage, as expected, and replace his uncle in Windsor Great Park? 

There are now three homes in play in this unfolding royal property drama, which at times is more like a game of musical chairs… 

Royal Lodge 

Today, Royal Lodge is a Georgian mansion sitting in Windsor Great Park, a short drive from Windsor Castle. 

But it was first built in the mid-1600 to provide accommodation for royal staff members.

The house did not become an official royal residence until 1812 when King George IV moved in. It was also during this time that the Royal Chapel of All Saints was built on the Royal Lodge estate.

In 1931, the property was gifted to George VI and the Queen Mother – parents to the late Queen Elizabeth –  as a retreat. 

The Queen Mother eventually lived there from the 1950s until she passed away in 2002.

Princess Margaret and Antony Armstrong-Jones announced their engagement in the gardens at Royal Lodge. 

The Queen Mother  made several additions to the property, including the small cottage called Y Bwthyn Bach, which was gifted to Princess Elizabeth on behalf of the ‘people of Wales’ for her sixth birthday in 1932.

 

Since then, it has been the home of the Queen’s second son, Prince Andrew. His former wife Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York, is often in residence there.

Both of their daughters celebrated their wedding receptions at the family home, with Princess Beatrice using the Royal Chapel of All Saints for her ceremony, and Princess Eugenie enjoying her evening reception at Royal Lodge. 

The 30-room Georgian house in Windsor has remained largely unchanged since the 1930s.

Along with its abundance of bedrooms, the property features an additional seven bedrooms, as well as a ‘formal room’, a spacious drawing room with intricate mouldings and millwork, tall ceilings with large windows, and a rear terrace.

Before Prince Andrew first moved in, he is said to have spent £7.5m renovating the mansion with new additions including an indoor swimming pool and a driving range.

It is believed the Lodge along with its royal chapel, gardener’s cottage, six lodge cottages and security accommodation, which all sit on 98 acres of land, could now be worth £30 million if the property were to become available to the open market.

Prince Andrew has a long lease on the property, which is owned by the Crown Estates. 

However, it is thought that the annual maintenance bill for the house is significant. And that there is a danger the prince will default on the contract through lack of funds and will be obliged to move out.

Earlier this year, The Mail on Sunday revealed that the King is cutting the £250,000 annual grant that Andrew had received from their late mother.

Charles has issued a general decree to family members that, amid increasing public scrutiny, they should reduce their living costs 

Meanwhile, Prince Andrew is said to be fearful that the King and his advisors will remove him by hook or by crook and replace him in Royal Lodge with the Prince of Wales.

The latest reports suggest he is even refusing to move out temporarily during building work for fear ‘he might never get back in’.

 A source told The Daily Mail’s Rebecca English that: ‘It’s become farcical. Andrew has roof repairs scheduled later this summer, which will take several months to complete and has been advised that staying in the house during those renovations could prove problematic.

 ‘But he is reluctant to leave.’ 

FROGMORE COTTAGE

Frogmore Cottage was the United Kingdom home of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex before they moved to live in America full-time.

The Palace told them they would no longer have access to the five-bedroom cottage in March of this year.

The Grade II listed, two-storey, stucco-faced house sitting near Windsor Castle on the Windsor Estate has been a royal residence since 1792.

The house was built between the years of 1680 and 1684 by Charles II’s architect, Hugh May, on the estates of Great and Little Frogmore, which were bought by Henry VIII in the 16th century.

The name came from the high number of frogs which live in the low-lying marshy area, which is set within a long sweeping curve of the River Thames.

In 1792, King George III’s wife Queen Charlotte bought the house it to use as a country retreat for her and her daughters. 

Later, the cottage was the home of Queen Victoria’s loyal Indian manservant Abdul Karim, who was thrown out and deported after his mistress died in 1901.

Karim reportedly refurbished Frogmore Cottage and lived there from 1893 until Victoria’s death in 1901, when King Edward VII banished Karim back to India.

After Karim’s departure, Frogmore was lived in by Queen Mary’s brother, the Marquess of Cambridge. The Marquess’s daughter, Lady Helena Gibbs, also went on to live there.

And from 1925 until 1934, the home was a place of sanctuary for Grand Duchess Xenia, the sister of Tsar Nicholas II.

She was one of the few members of the Russian royal family to escape after the Bolsheviks ordered the murder of Tsar Nicholas and his family.

Then came another Russian, the notorious Princess Marina ‘Mira’ Dmitri, who secured a lease on the cottage.

With the aid of an MI5 dossier, The Mail on Sunday recently revealed how the Princess Mira perpetrated a remarkable story of blue-blooded betrayal and deceit.

Not only was she on the lookout for extramarital sex – which included an affair with the late Queen’s uncle, the Duke of Kent – but by most accounts, she was also a spy.

During King Edward VII’s reign, Frogmore was used by the King’s son and daughter-in-law, the future King George V and Queen Mary.

In 2019, it was said that £2.4m of taxpayers’ money was used to renovate the property, but the pair then paid it back in full when they moved to California.

The couple faced a public backlash when the cost of refurbishing the home initially fell to the taxpayer. The bill included structural work, rewiring and flooring, among other costs.

Following Harry and Meghan’s renovation, it became a five-bedroom property.

Following their departure, Princess Eugenie, husband Jack Brooksbank and baby August spent time living there.

As to the next occupant, that remains to be seen. 

 

ADELAIDE COTTAGE

The Grade II listed four-bedroom Adelaide Cottage was built back in 1831 for Queen Adelaide, the wife of King Willian IV, to use as a summer retreat.

Sitting not far from Frogmore Cottage on the Windsor estate, it is currently occupied by the Prince and Princess of Wales and their three children.

Most believe this is unlikely to be a long-term home for the growing family of a future king.

According to Historic England, Adelaide Cottage is a ‘picturesque’ two-storey stucco-faced dwelling with casement windows, and elaborate pierced bargeboards edging the roof.

The property was refurbished in 2015, yet it still retains its original 19th century front porch and manicured gardens, which are now nearly 200 years old.

Located in the 4,800-acre Windsor Great Park, Adelaide Cottage is close to St. George’s Chapel, and is a short journey into central London.

The royal retreat has been used by a number of monarchs, including Queen Victoria, who often visited the cottage to enjoy her breakfast or tea. 

The cottage was also home to Group Captain Peter Townsend – who is most famously known for being the lover of Princess Margaret and equerry to King George VI – in the 1940s with his first wife Rosemary.

During his residence, the then Princess Elizabeth, the Queen Mother and Princess Margaret would regularly take tea in the gardens of the cottage with the Townsends and their two sons.

Simon Rhodes, the son of the late Margaret Rhodes, the Queen’s first cousin and a Lady-in-Waiting to the Queen Mother, is said to have most recently resided at the cottage.

Having left Kensington Palace almost a year ago, sources suggested that Kate and William opted for the cottage to secure a good school for Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis. 

Maintaining their children’s privacy and safety was a difficult task in London, and instead decided to move to the country, much like their own childhoods spent away from the city.

Its four bedrooms mean that William and Kate’s full-time nanny, Maria Teresa Turrion Borrallo, will live elsewhere as will other staff, giving the family a chance to give their children the ‘most normal’ upbringing possible.

Adelaide Cottage is also closer to Kate’s parents, Michael and Carole Middleton, who have lived for a decade in Bucklebury Manor, a seven-bedroom Grade II-listed Georgian property which is also in Berkshire.