Part of the logic behind Prince William and Catherine, Princess of Wales, moving to Adelaide Cottage in Windsor with their children George, Charlotte and Louis was to be closer to the Queen, who had taken up residence in Windsor Castle in her latter years.
Tragically, just days after the then-Cambridges moved into their new home, Queen Elizabeth II passed away in her summer residence of Balmoral Castle in Scotland.
If all of this wasn't enough upheaval for the young royals, they had also just started at their new school, Lambrook, just one day before the news of their great-grandmother's death broke.
But now that the Duke and duch*ess of Cambridge have become the Prince and Princess of Wales, with the seniority and responsibility that goes with those titles, King Charles' plan is apparently to move them into Windsor Castle.
Back in October 2021, the Daily Mail reported that Charles and Camilla's plan was to live at Buckingham Palace in "a flat above the shop" and open the residence to the public for more time over the year, to turn Balmoral Castle into a museum dedicated to Queen Elizabeth, and to move the new Waleses into Windsor Castle.
(Image credit: Photo by Jonathan Brady / Getty)
At that time, King Charles was apparently torn between his desire to share the royal residences with the public and to keep enough of them private so that the younger royals would have a home when they reach adulthood.
"The Prince of Wales strongly believes that these places have got to deliver something for the public beyond just being somewhere for members of the Royal Family to live," a source told the Mail.
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"Everything is seen through the lens of the question: 'What value is this offering to the public?'
"Everybody recognizes it makes no sense to run so many residences but if you give them up entirely you will never get them back when Prince George and the younger royals grow up and need somewhere to live."
With that said, given that the Waleses have literally just moved into Adelaide, with all the upheaval that entails, they are reportedly planning to "delay moving into Windsor Castle" for the time being, according to the Telegraph.
"They won’t be starting from scratch when it comes to decisions on what happens to all of the royal properties, because there have been lots of conversations about that over the years, but things can change when family dynamics are taken into account and they will want as little disruption to their children’s lives as possible right now," a source told the publication.
"They are very happy right now at Windsor, and for the next decade or so everything will be pretty much dictated by what is right for the children." That seems reasonable.
