Inside William and Kate’s ‘normal’ life at Adelaide Cottage

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Prince George, Princess Charlotte And Prince Louis Start Lambrook School

The young royal family have plans to live a “normal” life in their modest four-bedroom home. (Photo by Jonathan Brady – Pool/Getty Images)

When we think of royal homes, we think of castles, towers, great halls and drawbridges.

But the reality for the Wales’ is far from that. In fact, Prince William and Princess Kate live in a modest four-bedroom home that’s even painted pink on the outside.

Named Adelaide Cottage, the young royals moved into pad in September 2022 to be near Windsor Castle and their children’s school, The Sun reports.

There, they raise their brood: George, 11, Charlotte, nine, and six-year-old Louis.

Charming Adelaide Cottage couldn’t be further from Wills and Kate’s 20-room, four-storey apartment in Kensington, which they still use when they need to be in London.

Sources said the couple dreamt of having a “modest” home with a garden so the children could play outside together.

It hasn’t all been sunshine and rainbows, though.

The young royal family were recently raided by masked men while they slept unknowingly.

Two men scaled a 6ft fence at night and snuck on the Windsor Castle estate to steal a pick-up and quad bike that were stored in a barn just five minutes from Adelaide Cottage.

A map portraying Adelaide Cottage’s location from Windsor Castle. (Picture: Google Maps)

The raiders struck at Shaw Farm, a working farm inside the castle’s security zone, and used a stolen truck to smash their way through a security gate at the royal estate.

William and Kate, both 42, and their children were believed to be sleeping peacefully at the time.

The young royals quietly moved to the Cottage in the wake of Queen Elizabeth II’s death in September 2022.

Royal expert Robert Jobson foretold that it was “the start of a new era for William” and his family.

Two years on, it seems his predictions were right.

In pursuit of living a “normal” life, the Wales’ have ditched a key member of staff in their new home, host weeknight family dinners like us ordinary folk and much more …

Prince William and Princess Kate live in a four-bedroom cottage with their three children (Photo by Jonathan Brady – Pool/Getty Images)

No Butler Zone

Kate and William’s move to Adelaide Cottage in 2022 led to them cutting down on staff, according to royal biographer Robert Hardman.

The Wales’ no longer have a full-time butler at home and instead choose to be “very much them at home with the kids”.

Robert made the staffing revelation in his new book New King, New Court, and detailed the reasons why the younger royals have ruled out employing around-the-clock help.

“The couple did not seek to boost the staff numbers at Adelaide Cottage, not least because there would be little room to do so,” he penned.

BESTPIX - The British Royal Family Attend Easter Mattins Service

Wills and Kate refuse to have a full-time butler at Adelaide Cottage. (Photo by Yui Mok – WPA Pool/Getty Images)

Robert did explain that an alternative role currently exists at Prince William and Kate’s other residence, Kensington Palace in London.

“The Kensington Palace team does include a ‘yeoman,’ a multi-tasking attendant who looks after everything from luggage to uniforms, but there is no ‘gentleman’s gentleman’ on the staff,” he wrote.

“And certainly no butler – it’s very much them at home with the kids.”

A breakdown of costs from the 2023-2024 year found that the wage bill for royal staff was £27.9 million (A$54.1 million). The cost of housekeeping and hospitality for the upkeep of a royal household was also revealed to have cost £2.6 million (A$5 million) for the year.

Kitchen Diaries

Princess Kate once revealed that she loves to host curry nights for her family-of-five.

She said that she would often try her hand at making South Asian versions of the dish at home.

That includes preparing one version for herself and William, and a second, cooler version for their three children.

But she added: “Charlotte is pretty good with heat.”

Kate revealed the surprising fact about her only daughter while discussing her then-upcoming trip to Pakistan in October 2019.

Home Comforts

Comfort dishes were likely the family’s go-to dinner as part of Kate’s recovery during chemotherapy earlier this year.

Kensington Palace announced in January 2024 that she had undergone a planned abdominal surgery for an undisclosed medical condition.

Then in March, following mammoth speculation on social media, Kate announced that post-operative tests had found cancer in her body.

Princess Of Wales Announces She Is Receiving Chemotherapy For Cancer

They are raising their children with a more “normal” lifestyle. (Photo by Chris Jackson/Getty Images)

The palace shared that the Princess had been undergoing chemotherapy since late February.

Upon medical advice, she recovered at home following a two-week hospital stint for her operation – and is said to have received a warm welcome upon her arrival.

According to one royal commentator, George, Charlotte and Louis surprised Kate with “cards and banners and little gifts” when she returned to Adelaide Cottage.

Ingrid Seward – editor in chief of Majesty Magazine – told Fabulous: “It was a special moment when the Princess of Wales arrived back from hospital.

“She had been in hospital for two weeks, which was ages for kids used to seeing their mum every day.

“They wanted to surprise her. And thanks to Kate’s endless patience in the past, are skilled at arts and crafts and cooking.”

Royal Whizzers

Last July, The Sun exclusively revealed that Prince William had bagged himself a flashy e-scooter.

Fast forward 12 months to July this year, the Prince of Wale showed that he was a royal whizzer after being spotted darting around Windsor on his new wheels.

Prince William makes his way round Windsor estate with an e-scooter (Credit: Twitter/@TribesBritannia)

The dad-of-three was filmed by a tourist riding the two-wheeler in the castle courtyard.

He uses the scooter to zip to the castle for meetings from nearby Adelaide Cottage.

A source said at the time: “It’s becoming such a common sight at Windsor seeing William buzz around in the scooter that people barely raise an eyebrow now.

“It’s certainly the best and quickest way to get around for meetings and to see the King when he visits, and it is much more environmentally friendly than taking a car from Adelaide Cottage.”

The 10mph machine is a change of pace for the heir to the throne, left, who took part in a charity motorbike ride across South Africa with brother Prince Harry in 2008.