Inside Meghan’s home town that’s made for new mums
The royal town where the Duchess was married is the perfect playground for new mothers, says
Amonth on from the birth of Master Archie, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex seem to have the bringing-up-baby lark down pat. Barely five weeks in, the couple are now welcoming a steady trickle of visitors to Frogmore Cottage, their newly renovated “forever home”.
For her part, Meghan has reportedly taken to going on long walks around the estate with her baby. And now, with the post-birth fog lifted, she is about to discover quite how good a move she has made to Windsor. For within a few miles of Frogmore is everything that a new mother could need, from organic supermarkets and luxury spas to Buggyfit classes and cafés serving proper coffee.
“New mums want to stay in touch with reality and get back into their favourite dresses, and round here there are loads of stylish, outdoorsy ways of doing it,” says Sue Barnes of Lavender Green Flowers (lavendergreen.co.uk), a Windsor local who regularly does the displays at events at the royal palaces.
Barnes believes Windsor is the perfect playground for new mums. “I can imagine them taking the baby on a slipper boat down the Thames with a picnic,” she says. “Or he will play polo at Coworth Park, while she relaxes in the spa and the baby sleeps in the crèche. Round here, you can also attend society events such as the Royal Windsor Horse Show with your baby in tow, which Meghan will appreciate.”
And for those times when the Duchess craves a reminder of city life, London is only 22 miles away up the M4.
If Meghan is open to making new friends, there will be plenty of kindred spirits to hang out with, says local mother and parenting blogger Jodie Humphries (maidenheadmum. co.uk). “It’s so easy for new mums to make friends around here as, like Meghan, many have moved out of
Anna Tyzack
the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea for a better quality of life,” she says. “We arrive as strangers, but form strong friendships through local baby and toddler groups. It’s really helpful to have a set of friends who are all experiencing similar things.”
The question is: will Meghan flit between Frogmore and five-star spas – or brave the Windsor playgroups?
The post-birth boot camp
Meghan has installed a gym and yoga studio at Frogmore, and will presumably ship in private trainers – maybe Chloe Hodgson, who takes the Pilates classes at Soho Farmhouse, or Notting Hill-based postnatal yoga guru Tara Lee. She might also take ballet barre and legs, bums and tums classes at the Cliveden Club, the private members’ club and gym attached to the five-star hotel where she stayed the night before her wedding.
And then there are Her Majesty’s horses to canter around the Great Park – great for toning the post-birth core. She would do well, though, according to Humphries, to pull down her baseball cap and mingle with the Buggyfit crowd, which meets weekly on the Long Walk, a few minutes from Frogmore. For this, she will need to ditch the Bugaboo Fox in favour of a sportier buggy, such as a BOB Revolution Flex.
The new-mum circle
The Clooneys live 20 minutes away at Sonning – Amal’s twins are now nearly two, so she can teach Meghan the basics – and Sir Elton John and his two children live in Old Windsor. Anna Friel is also a local Windsor mum, and over at Henley-on-thames, mother-of-four Sascha Wrottesley, whose father, Urs Schwarzenbach, is a local polo patron and a great mate of Prince Charles, will be able to introduce Meghan to the local polo mums. Meanwhile, in nearby Virginia Water, are pop star Jessica Taylor, who is married to former cricketer Kevin Pietersen, and TV presenter Kirsty Gallacher, both with two children. If she’s prepared to brave the local baby classes (see below), Meghan will meet a raft of other local parents, and can bond over coffee and cake in the café at the Windsor Farm Shop, or on breezy walks in the Great Park. We’d say “unlikely” – but the option is there.
The baby classes
There is so much on offer for babies around Windsor that Meghan could risk overstimulating Master Archie: baby massage in Maidenhead, Hartbeeps sensory sessions in Windsor; and two soft plays, the Jelly Lounge and the Little Gym, in Windsor.
For older babies, Humphries recommends Concertini, live concerts for babies at Norden Farm Centre for the Arts in Maidenhead. “My little boy went to his first concert when he was around six months,” she says.
Perhaps most appropriate for