The court of ‘Queen Kate’ – in Diana’s old apartment
Royal ‘Trio’ annex the rooms where Princes grew up for their charity and business nerve centre William’s young family will move permanently into Kensington Palace – and snub Clarence House
‘It’s one way of keeping Diana’s memory alive’
IT WAS once the sitting room where, as toddlers, Princes William and Harry played tag around the sofas and were introduced to the piano by their mother. So it is no surprise that it holds a host of memories for both Princes.
Today, however, the room – part of the Kensington Palace apartments where the Princess of Wales lived until her death in 1997 – is vastly different. After a two-year renovation, it has become the nerve centre of the charitable and business operations spearheaded by William, Kate and Harry, The Mail on Sunday can reveal.
With its opulent fireplace, polished wooden floors and gleaming chandeliers, it is one of a suite of function rooms recently taken over by The Trio – as they have become known in Royal circles – as office space for their team of staff.
And they are likely to be there for some time to come.
It has become increasingly clear that, once he becomes heir apparent, Prince William is unlikely to take up his father’s residence of Clarence House, preferring instead to make Kensington Palace his home.
‘There are no plans for William to take over Clarence House when his father is King,’ says one source. ‘The idea is that he and Kate will become the second Prince and Princess of Wales to live at Kensington Palace.’
According to a biography of the Queen by TV presenter Andrew Marr, aides of Prince Charles have discussed his plans to live between Clarence House and Windsor when he accedes to the throne, with a source saying the Prince could even turn Buckingham Palace into a public museum and events centre.
So the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s decision to expand their Kensington Palace court means they will have room to house more staff as the Prince increases his official duties.
‘It makes total sense,’ says Royal author Ingrid Seward. ‘They have two lovely new reception rooms which are great spaces for them to have meetings and officially entertain. One of the rooms was the drawing room which overlooks the rose garden and outside courtyard and was at one time connected to the dining room. The other room was a TV and sitting room.
‘You can understand why the boys wanted to take the rooms on. I imagine it’s a way of them keeping Diana’s memory alive.’
The rooms, whose walls are adorned with an impressive collection of paintings believed to be on loan from the Queen’s private collection, are part of Apartments 8 and 9, the marital home of Charles and Diana, which became the Princess’s official residence after their divorce. And until recently they housed the Royal Drawing School.
William and Kate’s official London residence is in the next courtyard, at Apartment 1A, a 20-room home which was refurbished with £4.5million from the public purse in 2011.
Previously Princess Margaret’s home, it was where the Cambridges entertained Barack and Michelle Obama during their visit earlier this year.
The Royal couple are preparing to move back to the capital next summer after three years of peace and solitude at Anmer Hall, their
countryside bolthole on the Sandringham Estate.
Sources close to the family say the return is rather reluctant, as they had hoped to raise Prince George and Princess Charlotte away from the limelight. William has already signalled he will step down as an air ambulance pilot next spring, and Prince George – who will start reception classes in September 2017 – is expected to attend a private pre-prep school in London.
George currently attends a Montessori nursery near Anmer three days a week, but it is believed his parents have put his name down at the £19,620-a-year Wetherby preprep school in Kensington.
The family have been living in ten-bedroom Anmer Hall, a wedding present from the Queen, ever since George was born in 2013. Princess Charlotte was born at St Mary’s Hospital in London, but four days after her birth the family returned to Norfolk.
The Duke and the Duchess often travel by helicopter into London for engagements, but the expense has prompted criticism. Just a month ago, The Mail on Sunday reported that taking a helicopter home to Norfolk after attending a garden party at Buckingham Palace cost the taxpayer £5,000.
Now, after three years of idyllic family life, it is time to come home to what aides have always insisted is the ‘full-time family home and long-term residence’.
Royal sources told this newspaper earlier this year that the Queen’s 90th year is being seen by senior courtiers and Royals as an oppor- tunity for the younger generation to take on more responsibilities.
The Queen has begun to hand over some of her charities and patronages, and William now directly assists the Queen carrying out investitures and undertaking overseas travel on her behalf.
An indication of the change slowly and quietly taking place came earlier this month when William was sworn into the Privy Council, the Queen’s most senior advisory body.
According to one senior aide, the finishing touches to the rooms in Kensington Palace were completed ‘some months ago’.
The courtier added: ‘The rooms are used to entertain guests, host meetings with their charities and for any business-related events.’
So far they have been used for a number of engagements.
The Duchess also took over Apartment 8 when she guest-edited the Huffington Post UK in February, during mental health awareness week. More recently, the Duke invited the editorial team of gay magazine Attitude into the newly refurbished apartments.
Kensington Palace has been a royal residence since 1689, when King William III and Queen Mary II bought Nottingham House for £20,000. It was subsequently remodelled into the palace by Christopher Wren, the architect behind St Paul’s Cathedral.
In the 18th Century, George I spent lavishly on new royal apartments there, including Apartments 8 and 9, but his successor, George II was the last reigning monarch to use the building.
It has always been considered one of the least stuffy royal residences. Princess Margaret, who lived there for 42 years, was known to entertain celebrities such as Vidal Sassoon, Mary Quant and Peter Sellers.
The palace’s rooftop garden and long passageways have led to it being described as a ‘children’s paradise’, and William and Harry are said to have many happy memories of playing in the grounds.
Following Princess Diana’s death, her rooms were turned into offices for four of Prince Charles’s charities and, at one point, housed the office for General Sir David Richards, then Chief of the Defence Staff.
Now Kate and William have updated the rooms to make their new court complete, and the couple’s aides insist the costly refurbishment is worth every penny.
The £4.5million spent on Apartment 1A included removing asbestos, building a new roof and overhauling the electrics and plumbing, as well as internal building work in a major 18-month renovation.
As for the work on the offices, a spokesman for the Cambridges said: ‘The refurbishment of Apartment 8 has created work space and meeting rooms in support of the Duke and Duchess and Prince Harry’s official responsibilities and charitable work.’
He added that some of the work was funded by the Sovereign Grant – which replaced the Civil List in 2011 – and that ‘costs have been kept to a minimum by using in-house resources’ with help from the The Royal Collection of artworks.
Prince George is ‘signed up for local pre-prep’