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In July last year, Kate and Wills signed the lease on their ‘forever home’ Forest Lodge in Windsor Great Park, but it’s certainly not cheap.
The family left behind their four-bedroom Adelaide Cottage and moved just 16 minutes up the road to their new, much larger, abode in October 2025.
But documents registered this week have revealed the Prince and Princess of Wales are paying a blinding £100,000 more to live in the property than the previous tenants.
The royal couple are forking out a whopping £307,500 a year to rent their new home, although this agreement also covers two cottages within the grounds for staff, as well as the mansion.
Previously, the home Alexander Fitzgibbons, chair of the party planning business Fait Accompli that organised the wedding receptions of both Kate and Wills in 2011 and Harry and Meghan in 2018.
Alexander had had a joint tenancy deal with a Swedish businesswoman, Cristina Stenbeck, since 2019 where they paid £216,000 on Forest Lodge, but the royals secured the property after rates increased by nearly half.
William pays this six-figure rent from the private income he gets after tax from the profits of the Duchy of Cornwall estate. It’s a private estate established by Edward III in 1337 to provide an income for the heir to the throne, and now encompasses 128,922 acres of land across 19 counties.
Where is Kate and Wills’ home, Forest Lodge?
The eight-bedroom grade II listed property, nestled in the 4,800-acre Windsor Great Park, was built in the 1770s and is just four miles from their former home.
Originally known as Holly Grove, it became part of the Royal Estate in 1829 when George IV purchased it. It was then renamed to Forest Lodge in 1937.
The royal couple put in for planning permission to make modest internal and external renovations back in June, including new doors and windows, removing internal walls, altering the ceilings and adding new floors.
It was last renovated in 2001 for £1.5million and was then valued at £5.5million, although according to house price rises, it is estimated to be worth around £16million today.
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It boasts a red brick cellar, an original slate roof, six chimneys and nine bay windows. However, it’s still half the size of the 31-bedroom Royal Lodge Prince Andrew resided in, just 10 minutes down the road.
That was until Andrew was forced to leave the property on February 2, after fallout from the Jeffrey Epstein files, although he has always denied any wrongdoing.
It’s also a short drive from Cumberland Lodge which houses an educational charity currently, however since being built in the 17th century it’s housed the Keeper of the Privy Purse, and even third son of King George II, the Duke of Cumberland.
What does Forest Lodge look like inside?
The ‘great wall of Wills and Kate’
The relocation of the royal family did cause some stir with locals after restrictions were introduced within the Windsor Great Park.
Parts of the estate were closed off to the public ahead of the family’s arrival. Dog walkers and park visitors are no longer able to freely use Cranbourne Gate or its corresponding car park for security reasons.
Residents who live within half a mile of the estate were given the opportunity to apply for a gate key for an annual £110 fee.
Nonetheless, a 150-acre exclusion zone has been sectioned off, with new fencing erected around parts of the 2.3 mile perimeter.
The reclaimed wooden fencing runs for almost a mile alongside Prince Consort Drive, an access road which leads into the heart of a royal enclave on private Crown Estate land in Berkshire.
Although innocuous-looking, it’s understood that electronic surveillance and intruder countermeasures have been installed around and underneath the newly-installed perimeter.
A source said: ‘The great wall of Wills and Kate is the latest in a series of security measures aimed at protecting the privacy and security of the Prince and Princess of Wales around their new home.
‘It looks like an ordinary countryside fence, but anyone who tries to cross it will have a hard time getting through the gates, and if they do manage to clamber over, they’ll be discovered in fairly short order.’
Trespass on the restricted area is now a criminal offence under the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005.
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