The House of Windsor could undergo major changes this summer, with William and Kate apparently planning a relocation to Windsor, and Prince Andrew reportedly considering a transfer to Scotland in order to restart his life.
Following family discussions during the Queen’s recent Jubilee weekend, measures are being put in place that could result in dramatic changes in the royals’ life later this year.
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, who are apparently planning to relocate their family from Kensington, West London, to Berkshire, will likely be the most significant shift.
According to reports, the pair is planning to relocate to a home on the Queen’s Windsor estate, leaving Kensington Palace as their primary abode.
Meanwhile, the Queen is believed to have met privately with the Duke of York and other senior members of the Royal Family to discuss how they may assist Prince Andrew in rebuilding his life away from the public eye.’
With the Duke’s recent legal struggle in the United States behind him, the Queen has convened family meetings at Windsor Castle to determine what role the Duke may play that would be acceptable to the general public.
While it is understood that Andrew – who was seen horseback riding in Windsor yesterday – is adamant about keeping his Royal Lodge estate in Windsor, he may choose to rebuild his life in Scotland.
While William, Kate, and Andrew may all witness significant changes this summer, it appears that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, who live in the United States, will see little change.
The couple is said to have only had a 15-minute meeting with the Queen during the four-day Jubilee celebrations last weekend, with senior royal officials characterizing the atmosphere as ‘formal.’
According to The Sunday Times, William and Kate will transfer their son Prince George, 8, and daughter Princess Charlotte, 7, from their current prep school in Battersea at the end of the school year as part of the Berkshire move.
In September, George and Charlotte will join their younger brother, Prince Louis, 4, at a new school in Berkshire, according to the newspaper.
William and Kate will be relocating from Kensington Palace, where they have resided since 2017.
The couple relocated from Anmer Hall, a country house in Norfolk where they had previously spent a lot of time.
Despite moving to Berkshire, The Sunday Times reports that the couple will keep their Kensington Palace home as their London residence. Their public relations team will stay in west London.
The pair will also keep Anmer Hall, which they will reportedly use ‘on a regular basis,’ according to the newspaper.
According to the newspaper, one of their friends plans to live there permanently once their children have completed ‘the school years.’
The pal is believed to have said, ‘They really adore it up there, that’s their happy spot.’
The Cambridges’ move to Windsor will also bring them closer to the Middletons, the Duchess’s parents, who live 45 minutes away in the village of Bucklebury.
The pair has long been rumored to be planning a move to Windsor Castle. Following the loss of her beloved Prince Phillip, the Queen has spent a lot of time at the Berkshire castle.
When he becomes king, though, it is expected that Prince Charles would spend less time there. The Prince of Wales has previously stated that he intends to spend much of his time at Buckingham Palace during his reign.
The move comes as a surprise. This week marks William’s 40th birthday. The monarch is said to have laughed behind his back that it’s’so daunting.’
However, he is said to be hoping that the relocation to Berkshire will provide his family more freedom to travel than the ‘constrained’ London lifestyle.
The news comes as the Daily Mail reports that The Queen has been secretly meeting with the Duke of York and other senior members of the Royal Family to discuss how they may help Prince Andrew reconstruct his life ‘away from the public eye.’
The Duke will attend the annual Order of the Garter ceremony tomorrow, and a senior Palace source confirmed that behind-the-scenes talks are under on to find him a new role away from the spotlight.
In January, the Queen’s second son was stripped of his military titles and HRH status as he prepared to face sexual assault charges in a civil case, which he has always denied.
To settle the dispute, he agreed to pay an amount of up to £12 million.
With the court battle finished, the Queen has convened family gatherings at Windsor Castle to determine what role the Duke could play in the public eye.
‘Clearly, at some time soon, consideration will have to be made as to how to support the Duke as he wants to rebuild his life in a different path away from the public spotlight,’ said the senior Palace source.
While it is understood that Andrew – who was seen horseback riding at Windsor yesterday – is adamant about keeping his Royal Lodge estate, he may choose to rebuild his life in Scotland.
‘Of course, there is a true knowledge and sensitivity to public feelings,’ the Palace source continued. There is also an understanding that beginning to help him as he rebuilds his life will be the first step on a long road that should not be walked every day in the public eye.’
The Duke, who was unable to attend the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee festivities last weekend due to his illness, is still a member of the Order of the Garter and will attend its yearly ceremony in Windsor.
According to the Mail on Sunday, there are still concerns within the Palace that Andrew’s return to public life would be met with hostility, and that the Queen will not rethink her decision to bar him from official activities.
‘With The Queen’s assent and agreement, The Duke of York’s military associations and Royal patronages have been returned to The Queen,’ according to a statement at the time.
The news of the talks about Andrew’s future came after he was dubbed a “absolute moron” for becoming involved in yet another money dispute.
Isabelle de Rouvre, a French socialite who was once owed millions of pounds by Andrew after selling her ski chalet in the Swiss resort of Verbier to him, made the remark amid new reports that he is embroiled in a £1.6 million financial dispute over the property. Andrew is said to be disputing the debt’s amount.
It comes after rumors surfaced today that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle only spent 15 minutes with the Queen during the Platinum Jubilee celebrations.
The couple, who are now based in Montecito, California, gave their one-year-old daughter Lilibet, who is named after The Queen, her first public appearance during the meeting.
The discussion, which took place on Thursday as the Jubilee celebrations began, was kept ‘formal’ by Buckingham Palace staff, according to The Sun on Sunday.
‘It was a quick in and out job,’ a source told the newspaper. ‘Everything was quite formal.’ When approached by The Sun, Buckingham Palace apparently declined to comment.
It comes about a week after Prince Harry returned from the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations in London, when he was pictured making a pose while playing polo in the Californian sun.
The Duke of Sussex, 37, was seen out and about for the first time since returning to Los Angeles on June 5 with his buddy Nacho Figueras’ club Los Padres at the Cancha de Estrella Polo Club in Santa Barbara.
The red-faced prince was seen taking a rest with his hands behind his head and buried into his right hip after working up a sweat.
As he basked in the normal LA heat, he wore a green top, white trousers, black riding boots and knee pads, before mounting his brown horse and donning his helmet and protective eyewear for another round of play.
It comes after royal analysts claimed this week that Harry “must have gone home feeling quite dejected for what he has given up” after he and his wife Meghan Markle chose not to be more conspicuous in the Jubilee celebrations because “they did not have center stage seats.”
During the four-day celebrations, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, both 40, skipped the Platinum Jubilee Party and Pageant, as well as the Epsom Derby.
Meghan was not present for the game on Friday, which Harry’s team lost 12-8 to Dundee II.
The couple made only one public appearance over the Jubilee weekend, despite flying in from the US with their two children – Archie and Lilibet.
They did not appear on the Buckingham Palace balcony during Trooping the Colour, and were also seemingly relegated to the second row during the Thanksgiving service.
Vanity Fair’s Katie Nicholl told True Royalty TV’s The Royal Beat that the couple weren’t at other celebrations because ‘they did not have centre stage seats’.
Meanwhile, historian Hugo Vickers added: ‘Harry has given up being Captain of the Royal Marines, who were out in force.
‘I think he must have gone home feeling very depressed for what he has given up.’
Katie said: ‘I honestly think it’s [because]… they knew that they wouldn’t be in that front row.
‘And why did they leave the Royal Family? They left because they weren’t in the front row. I believe that’s why they weren’t at the other celebrations as they did not have centre stage seats.’
Throughout her 70-year reign, the Queen has remained one of the world’s most composed public personalities, rarely expressing her emotions in public.
However, an insider has revealed that the massive outpouring of gratitude from the British public and Commonwealth nations left her ‘tearful and overwhelmed with emotion’ during the Jubilee celebrations’ grand finale last Sunday.
The Queen’s appearance on the balcony of Buckingham Palace following the Platinum Jubilee Pageant was the high point of the four-day event for many commentators.
The Queen was seen standing next to a slimmed-down version of the Royal Family’s official working members, dressed in a vibrant green Stewart Parvin crepe wool dress and coat with matching hat by Rachel Trevor-Morgan.
Despite this, the historic event was on the verge of being canceled.
‘The Queen only decided to go to London about three hours before the balcony appearance,’ according to a source.
‘She wasn’t in the best of spirits, but the Prince of Wales had called and told her she should come if she could.’
He persuaded her to come because there were so many people who wanted to see her.’
The Queen was bound by duty to travel from Windsor to London and was astounded by the welcome she received.
‘The Queen was completely overwhelmed by the number of people waiting to see her – tears welled up in her eyes before she stepped out on the balcony,’ a source said.
The 96-year-old Monarch’s appearance had been carefully choreographed in the moments leading up to it, with the Prince of Wales to her right and the Duke of Cambridge and his eldest son, Prince George, to her left – a lasting image of the next three generations who will succeed her – after agreement with the Prince of Wales and Duke of Cambridge.
It’s possible that this is the last time all four generations are seen together at such a high-profile event.
‘While I may not have been able to attend every event in person, my heart has been with you all, and I remain committed to serving you to the best of my ability, with the help of my family,’ she said.
Although she was seen discreetly wiping away a tear during a ceremony to decommission her beloved Royal Yacht Britannia in December 1997, the Queen rarely shows emotion in public.
The Queen’s reign will now shift into a new phase.
‘Over time, the Queen will revert to becoming a more virtual Queen, with digital appearances and video conversations,’ according to a source.
Rather than ‘looking back’ on the Jubilee, the Queen is now ‘looking forward,’ according to a Royal source.
Craigowan Lodge, a stone hamlet on the Balmoral Estate, has been kitted out with mobility aids, including a stair lift, and she is set to spend a long summer break there.
The Queen plans to attend the Order of the Garter investiture tomorrow, but she will not join the procession or attend the service at St George’s Chapel in Windsor.
The Duchess of Cornwall, former Prime Minister Tony Blair, and Baroness Amos will be inducted into the 700-year-old order of Knighthood during the historic occasion. The Queen is the one who makes the appointments.
After tomorrow’s ceremony, the Queen will travel to Balmoral, where she feels completely at ease.
The Queen traveled to Scotland with her bloodstock manager, John Warren, the weekend before the Platinum Jubilee celebrations to see the foals born this year.
‘I can’t suppose anyone would begrudge our 96-year-old Sovereign a well-deserved holiday after everything that’s happened this year and the success of the Jubilee,’ an insider said.