The 24 hours since the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge announced/confirmed their move to Adelaide Cottage has been fascinating. The royal commentary class has been following the 14-month ordeal of the Cambridges’ careful groundwork-laying for the move, and yet when the confirmation came on Monday, it felt like those same commentators have taken the opportunity to (gulp) criticize the Cambridges openly. One of those commentators? Richard Kay at the Daily Mail. Kay is definitely aligned with Prince William on most things, and Kay is one William’s favorite commentators to get “the Peggington side” out. So it’s definitely odd to see Kay call the move “clumsily insensitive.” Some highlights for Kay’s new piece in the Mail:
Insensitive: The less charitable response [to the move], however, is that at a time of an exploding cost-of-living crisis affecting working families up and down the country, securing the use of an additional property looks clumsily insensitive.
A rare misstep: Certainly for a couple who have always demonstrated a deft hand in managing the public relations side of their royal life, the fact that they now have three enviable addresses at their disposal is a rare mis-step.
Hollow words: It is, after all, not that long since their grand Kensington Palace home was extensively renovated with £4.5million of taxpayers’ money. In the face of criticism at the time their spokesman was moved to defend the cost to the public purse by describing Apartment 1a – the former home of Princess Margaret – as their ‘one and only official residence’ and where they would live for ‘many years to come’. Less than a decade later, those words are beginning to sound just a little hollow. Now Adelaide Cottage joins Kensington Palace and Anmer Hall – their country retreat in Norfolk – as part of an impressive portfolio of properties.
Tam-Na-Ghar might be rented out: There remains uncertainty over the precise ownership of a fourth property, Tam-Na-Ghar, a cottage on the Balmoral estate which the Queen gave William when he was a student at St Andrews University. For some years he and Kate stayed there often but it is thought it is no longer a royal address and is now let commercially.
Do the Cambridges really need Adelaide Cottage? So do William and Kate really need this third property? And if so could they not have put one of the remaining houses in mothballs or even – daringly – announced that they would stop using one of them altogether?
No extra cost?? Naturally, it is only fair to point out that Prince William and Kate are meeting the cost of renting Adelaide Cottage themselves and that, because of its location within Windsor Home Park, it needs, we are told, no extra taxpayer-funded security nor a costly refurbishment…Meanwhile, the Cambridges are retaining all their other homes and their office staff will continue to be based at Kensington Palace.
What about the slimmed-down monarchy? ‘As always it’s the optics,’ says a seasoned courtier. ‘On the one hand we are preaching a smaller institution based on core members of the family. But if those core members are seen to have multiple homes it invalidates the entire approach.’
“It needs, we are told, no extra taxpayer-funded security nor a costly refurbishment…Meanwhile, the Cambridges are retaining all their other homes and their office staff will continue to be based at Kensington Palace.” This is where it gets so tricky because of course there are extra costs and an extra burden on the taxpayer. The Cambridges are maintaining three homes (maybe four), all with security, all with household staff. The microcosm of this issue is the thing with Maria Borrallo – the Cambridges want the story to be “we won’t have a live-in nanny anymore,” but Nanny Maria is still on full-time staff and now she’ll get some kind of house or apartment in Windsor, just so she won’t “live in.” The Cambridges will also have new staffers, maids and a chef and groundskeepers. The “hidden” cost is being grossly misrepresented. Anyway… it’s amazing to see the Cambridges get criticized for this “move.” I suspect William desperately wants to scream “I’m not moving, you guys, don’t worry, I’m still going to use Kensington Palace all the time.”
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Instar, Cover Images.
North America Rights Only – London, UK -20220314- Commonwealth Service at Westminster Abbey in London on Commonwealth Day. -PICTURED: Catherine Duchess of Cambridge and Prince William -PHOTO by: Daniel Leal/PA Images/INSTARimages.com Disclaimer: This is an editorial, rights-managed image. Please contact INSTAR Images for licensing fee and rights information at sales@instarimages.com or call +1 212 414 0207. This image may not be published in any way that is, or might be deemed to be, defamatory, libelous, pornographic, or obscene. Please consult our sales department for any clarification needed prior to publication and use. INSTAR Images reserves the right to pursue unauthorized users of this material. If you are in violation of our intellectual property rights or copyright you may be liable for damages, loss of income, any profits you derive from the unauthorized use of this material and, where appropriate, the cost of collection and/or any statutory damages awarded For images containing underage children: Be advised that some Countries may have restricted privacy laws against publishing images of underage children. Inform yourself! Underage children may need to be removed or have their face pixelated before publishing 
North America Rights Only – London, UK -20220314- Commonwealth Service at Westminster Abbey in London on Commonwealth Day. -PICTURED: Catherine Duchess of Cambridge and Prince William -PHOTO by: Yui Mok/PA Images/INSTARimages.com Disclaimer: This is an editorial, rights-managed image. Please contact INSTAR Images for licensing fee and rights information at sales@instarimages.com or call +1 212 414 0207. This image may not be published in any way that is, or might be deemed to be, defamatory, libelous, pornographic, or obscene. Please consult our sales department for any clarification needed prior to publication and use. INSTAR Images reserves the right to pursue unauthorized users of this material. If you are in violation of our intellectual property rights or copyright you may be liable for damages, loss of income, any profits you derive from the unauthorized use of this material and, where appropriate, the cost of collection and/or any statutory damages awarded For images containing underage children: Be advised that some Countries may have restricted privacy laws against publishing images of underage children. Inform yourself! Underage children may need to be removed or have their face pixelated before publishing 
North America Rights Only – London, UK -20220314- Commonwealth Service at Westminster Abbey in London on Commonwealth Day. -PICTURED: Catherine Duchess of Cambridge and Prince William -PHOTO by: Daniel Leal/PA Images/INSTARimages.com Disclaimer: This is an editorial, rights-managed image. Please contact INSTAR Images for licensing fee and rights information at sales@instarimages.com or call +1 212 414 0207. This image may not be published in any way that is, or might be deemed to be, defamatory, libelous, pornographic, or obscene. Please consult our sales department for any clarification needed prior to publication and use. INSTAR Images reserves the right to pursue unauthorized users of this material. If you are in violation of our intellectual property rights or copyright you may be liable for damages, loss of income, any profits you derive from the unauthorized use of this material and, where appropriate, the cost of collection and/or any statutory damages awarded For images containing underage children: Be advised that some Countries may have restricted privacy laws against publishing images of underage children. Inform yourself! Underage children may need to be removed or have their face pixelated before publishing
Britain’s Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, attends the Commonwealth Day service ceremony at Westminster Abbey, in London, on March 14, 2022.,Image: 669620739, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: DANIEL LEAL / Avalon 
Britain’s Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, (L) and Britain’s Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge attend the Commonwealth Day service ceremony, at the Westminster Abbey, in London, on March 14, 2022.,Image: 669629392, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: DANIEL LEAL / Avalon 
BIRMINGHAM, ENGLAND – AUGUST 02: Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge and Princess Charlotte of Cambridge attend the Sandwell Aquatics Centre during the 2022 Commonwealth Games on August 02, 2022 in Birmingham, England.,Image: 711466387, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: Chris Jackson / Avalon
BIRMINGHAM, ENGLAND – AUGUST 02: Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge during a visit to SportsAid House at the 2022 Commonwealth Games on August 02, 2022 in Birmingham, England. The Duchess became the Patron of SportsAid in 2013, Team England Futures programme is a partnership between SportsAid, Sport England and Commonwealth Games England which will see around 1,000 talented young athletes and aspiring support staff given the opportunity to attend the Games and take a first-hand look behind-the-scenes.,Image: 711488094, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: Chris Jackson / Avalon 
BIRMINGHAM, ENGLAND – AUGUST 02: Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge during a visit to SportsAid House at the 2022 Commonwealth Games on August 02, 2022 in Birmingham, England. The Duchess became the Patron of SportsAid in 2013, Team England Futures programme is a partnership between SportsAid, Sport England and Commonwealth Games England which will see around 1,000 talented young athletes and aspiring support staff given the opportunity to attend the Games and take a first-hand look behind-the-scenes.,Image: 711503774, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: Chris Jackson / Avalon 
Prince William and Catherine Duchess of Cambridge with their daughter Princess Charlotte of Cambridge at Sandwell Aquatics Centre on day five of the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham. Featuring: Prince William, Catherine Duchess of Cambridge and Princess Charlotte Where: Birmingham, England, United Kingdom When: 02 Aug 2022 Credit: Chris Jackson/PA Images/INSTARimages.com/Cover Images **North America Rights Only**ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7pLHLnpmirJOdxm%2BvzqZmcHBgbH9xe8qasJismJqspK3Mm6minJeawKC5zq%2BcmKSfpLi0q8KlrKarmaHGoLXNrJynq5mptrexvqKrrJeRlL%2BivsSYpKKro6mysXs%3D