Where Does Prince William Live? His Official Residences

The Wales family’s address has changed more often than most royal-watchers realise, and each move has traced a fairly deliberate path: from a grand, ceremonial London palace toward something quieter, more private, and considerably more like an ordinary family home.

Kensington Palace remains the official London base

Apartment 1A at Kensington Palace, a 22-room residence across four floors, became William and Catherine’s London home following a reported £4.5 million renovation completed in 2013. Despite the family’s relocation out of London in 2022, Kensington Palace remains their official London address and working base, used for meetings, offices, and the formal business that still needs a central London setting.

The move to Windsor: Adelaide Cottage first

In 2022, shortly before Queen Elizabeth II’s death, the family shifted their main day-to-day base from Kensington Palace to Adelaide Cottage, a four-bedroom Georgian house tucked within Windsor Castle’s Home Park. The move was widely reported as a deliberate choice to give George, Charlotte and Louis a quieter, more grounded upbringing outside the more visible pressures of central London, closer to their grandmother in her final years and to a new school, Lambrook, chosen specifically for its setting outside the capital.

Now settled at Forest Lodge

Adelaide Cottage was itself a stepping stone rather than a permanent home. The family has since moved to Forest Lodge, a larger residence within Windsor Great Park, offering considerably more space and privacy than the cottage while remaining within the same broader Windsor estate the family relocated to in 2022. The move reflects a pattern that has held since 2022: each subsequent residence has traded a degree of grandeur for more genuine family privacy, a trade William and Catherine have consistently prioritised since becoming parents.

Anmer Hall: the country retreat that came first

Before any of the Windsor moves, there was Anmer Hall, a Georgian mansion on the Sandringham estate in Norfolk, given to William and Catherine by Queen Elizabeth II as a wedding gift. The couple lived there as their main residence between 2015 and 2017, before Prince George’s schooling in London prompted a full-time return to the capital. Anmer Hall has remained in the family’s use since as a country retreat, a base for weekends, holidays, and the kind of unhurried family time increasingly central to how William and Catherine have chosen to raise their children.

A pattern, not a series of accidents

Looked at together, the moves tell a consistent story rather than a string of unrelated relocations: away from the most visible, most ceremonial royal address, and toward homes that function more like the private houses of a family that happens to have a very public job. Kensington Palace still matters, as the institutional London base a working member of the royal family genuinely needs, but it is no longer where the Wales family actually lives day to day.

Browse more of our Royal Places & Events stories for more of the homes shaping royal family life today.

Frequently asked questions

Does Prince William still live at Kensington Palace?

Kensington Palace remains his official London residence and working base, but the family’s main day-to-day home has been in Windsor since 2022.

Where does Prince William live now?

Forest Lodge, a residence within Windsor Great Park, following an earlier move from Kensington Palace to the smaller Adelaide Cottage in 2022.

Why did the family move from Kensington Palace to Windsor?

The move was widely reported as a deliberate choice to give their children a quieter upbringing away from central London, closer to a new school and, at the time, closer to Queen Elizabeth II in her final years.

What is Anmer Hall?

A Georgian mansion on the Sandringham estate in Norfolk, given to William and Catherine by Queen Elizabeth II as a wedding gift. They lived there full-time between 2015 and 2017 and have continued using it as a country retreat since.

Is Adelaide Cottage still the family’s home?

No. The family has since moved from Adelaide Cottage to the larger Forest Lodge, both within the Windsor estate.

Do William and Catherine own any of these homes personally?

No. All are official or Crown-linked residences made available to them as working royals, rather than personal property they own outright.

Residence details are drawn from standard royal-affairs reporting on the family’s 2022 relocation and subsequent moves; correct as of 2026.