Princess Kate \201cFelt Like a Caged Animal\201d While Living in Kensington Palace

Kate Middleton tersely smiles at an engagement

(Image credit: Getty)

published 30 November 2023

Just before the death of Queen Elizabeth last September, the then-Cambridge family of five—Prince William, Duchess Kate (as she was then), Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis—moved from their home in London at Kensington Palace to the four-bedroom Adelaide Cottage in Windsor, which was seen by all accounts as a step in the right direction. Adelaide Cottage is not only close to Lambrook, where all three kids attend school, but it also allows the kids to have as “normal” of a life as possible when your father will one day be king, and you are arguably three of the most famous kids in the world.

Prince William, Kate Middleton, Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis together

It was common knowledge that the move was good decision for the kids, but, as Omid Scobie writes in his new book Endgame: Inside the Royal Family and the Monarchy’s Fight for Survival, it apparently was good for Kate in particular, as she felt like a “caged animal” before the family left KP. The family lacked privacy, she apparently said, because Kensington Palace is nearby a busy part of London popular in particular with tourists.

“Kensington Palace served them well, but the parents to the second, third, and fourth in line to the throne felt it was time to find something less in the middle of everybody else’s business,” Scobie writes in the book. “At times, one of the couple’s senior aides told me in 2016, Kate commented that it made them feel ‘a bit like caged animals,’ due to its heaving central London location and the fact that it was surrounded by tourists in one of the city’s busiest parks.”

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Then, a breath of fresh air: “In the summer of 2022, the family of five left behind Kensington Palace and moved 24 miles outside the capital to Windsor,” Scobie continues. “Adelaide Cottage, a ‘modest’ (only by royal standards) four-bedroom property, is giving the family the opportunity to live a more ‘normal’ life, their team has said.”

Scobie writes that Adelaide Cottage isn’t the family’s forever residence. “Adelaide isn’t a permanent home (the couple have their eyes on Prince Andrew’s Royal Lodge residence in Windsor—if he ever gives it up), but Windsor’s quiet, rural environment is exactly what they were looking for,” Endgame reads. (Despite being asked to vacate the 30-bedroom Royal Lodge earlier this year by King Charles, heretofore that hasn’t happened.)

In addition to William, Kate, and the kids, Princess Diana famously called KP home for many years.

"Endgame: Inside the Royal Family and the Monarchy's Fight for Survival" by Omid Scobie

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Rachel Burchfield is a writer, editor, and podcaster whose primary interests are fashion and beauty, society and culture, and, most especially, the British Royal Family and other royal families around the world. She serves as Marie Claire’s Senior Celebrity and Royals Editor and has also contributed to publications like Allure, Cosmopolitan, Elle, Glamour, Harper’s Bazaar, InStyle, People, Vanity Fair, Vogue, and W, among others. Before taking on her current role with Marie Claire, Rachel served as its Weekend Editor and later Royals Editor. She is the cohost of Podcast Royal, a show that was named a top five royal podcast by The New York Times. A voracious reader and lover of books, Rachel also hosts I’d Rather Be Reading, which spotlights the best current nonfiction books hitting the market and interviews the authors of them. Rachel frequently appears as a media commentator, and she or her work has appeared on outlets like NBC’s Today Show, ABC’s Good Morning America, CNN, and more.