EXCLUSIVE: Forest Lodge in Windsor Great Park will be a special place for the royal couple to make cherished family memories and royal experts reveal how Kate likes to ‘keep it real’ when it comes to interior design

Many experts suspect Kate and William could make Forest Lodge their ‘forever home’(Image: )

Every new year marks a fresh start but, for Kate, 2026 heralds more new beginnings than most. Not only is Prince George moving to senior school, but this will be the Prince and Princess of Wales ’s first year in their new house, Forest Lodge. The eight-bedroom mansion in Windsor Great Park is said to be a “forever home” for the family, and is a significant step-up in accommodation.

With Kate’s health hopefully on the mend, it also brings a chance to fill a new house with happy memories, leaving the dark days of her cancer battle behind. “After a very difficult two years, I think the family will all be looking forward to a new chapter,” royal expert Katie Nicholl tells OK !. “Forest Lodge is a new start. It’s a chance to leave that difficult period behind and very much look to the future.”

The family live a relatively normal life behind close doors, experts say(Image: Instagram)

News that the Wales family were on the move emerged in August 2025, when reports revealed plans to relocate from four-bedroomed Adelaide Cottage into Forest Lodge. The Grade II listed Georgian mansion is just four miles away, yet it’s a far bigger, grander building, with original parts dating back to the 1770s. Surrounded by woodland, it has a sweeping drive, tennis court and even a ballroom. Photos taken during renovations in 2001 also reveal an impressive array of period features, including a marble fireplace, hallway with vaulted ceilings and ornate plasterwork.

Forest Lodge belongs to the Crown Estate and, while it’s said to be worth around £16 million, William and Kate will be renting it. No exact figure has been announced, but it’s thought the couple’s monthly bill could be upwards of £15,000.

“Forest Lodge is obviously a much bigger house, and the couple are calling it their forever home,” Katie Nicholl tells us. “Adelaide Cottage was never really big enough for all of them as a family. It was always going to be a stopgap, because they needed a bit more space.”

Forest Lodge is now the Windsor family home(Image: Getty Images)

Importantly, Kate and William’s new home is tucked away in a private area of Windsor Great Park, with new gates to shield the family from prying eyes. Other recently-added security measures include hi-tech CCTV cameras, large wooden fences and even additional trees to protect their privacy. An “exclusion area” covering around 150 acres has also been created, with people warned not to enter.

Yet, despite its seclusion and rural setting, Forest Lodge is under an hour from Bucklebury Manor, where Kate’s beloved parents live, and four miles from the children’s school, Lambrook. It’s also a relatively easy journey to Kensington Palace in London, where their offices are based.

Understandably, William and Kate have been keen to put their own stamp on Forest Lodge, so the property had a facelift in preparation for their arrival. The renovations included new doors, windows and removing some internal walls, work which they privately funded. But while it may be a grand house, Katie Nicholl says Kate’s interiors taste is far from showy.

“Kate has a clear sense of style,” she tells OK !. “It’s contemporary and classic, with neutral shades. If you look at her wardrobe you see a sense of timeless elegance, and that’s very much reflected in her choice of interiors.”

The new home has plenty of gardens for Kate and the family to enjoy(Image: PA)

They may also introduce bees to Forest Lodge, as they did at Anmer Hall(Image: PA)

While we are unlikely to get a peek inside the family’s finished home, we do know that celebrated interior designer Ben Pentreath is a firm favourite with the princess. Ben, who counts Liv Tyler and Sarah Jessica Parker as clients, helped mastermind the overhaul of Anmer Hall on the Sandringham Estate in Norfolk. He also helped transform the Kensington Palace apartment Kate shares with William when in London on official duties.

The name Apartment 1A might conjure up images of a humble flat, but don’t be fooled. It is said to have 20 rooms, including five reception rooms, three bedrooms, a gym and staff quarters. The couple’s rural bolthole, Anmer Hall, is equally impressive, boasting a tennis court and swimming pool in the pretty gardens. The 10-bedroom home was a generous wedding gift from Queen Elizabeth II, and William and Kate modernised the interior with a £1.5 million renovation project which included making the kitchen the heart of the home.

Katie says the family prefer to live outside palaces such as Kensington Palace so their children can enjoy greater privacy(Image: Getty Images)

“Kate was very hands-on with both their apartment at Kensington Palace and Anmer Hall,” says Katie Nicholl. “She’s not overly ostentatious, so she won’t just be shopping at all the exclusive interior design shops on the King’s Road. When it comes to her wardrobe, she mixes McQueen with a bit of high street, and I think she’ll do the same when it comes to interior design at home. You’re just as likely to see her combing the rails at Peter Jones.”

Kate and William have previously revealed that their children’s bedrooms contain pieces from IKEA, but the princess also likes to champion home-grown brands. And given how much George, Charlotte and Louis love baking, crafting and playing in the garden, Forest Lodge is bound to have a family-first aesthetic. “She’ll be keeping it real, there will have to be a practical element in all of it,” adds Katie Nicholl. “You’ve got three young kids running around, and we know how much they love their arts and crafts, and being outdoors.”

The family share a love of the great outdoors(Image: Getty Images)

The family are keen gardeners and cooks, so they’ll likely be relishing their new garden and kitchen. “We grow our own vegetables,” Kate has said. “We’ve got carrots, beans, beetroot, a massive favourite.” And, given that the princess is a talented pianist, perhaps a piano will soon take pride of place in the drawing room. Kate has played since her childhood and famously surprised Eurovision fans in 2023, when she joined singers Sam Ryder and Joss Stone to play in the song contest’s opening sequence.

Whatever the family’s finished home looks like, it is said they are looking forward to creating many happy memories there. No doubt board games sessions will be a regular fixture. Monopoly and Risk are reportedly family favourites and William has admitted, “Usually everyone gets very cross… because they lose.”

“Perhaps the Prince and Princess of Wales will become our first king and queen not to live in a castle or palace,” adds Katie Nicholl. “We’ve heard William talk about how he envisages change when it comes to his time on the throne, and you wonder if this [move to Forest Lodge] is perhaps one of the nods to royalty with a small ‘r’, rather than a capital ‘R’, that we might be seeing from them both. After all, they’ve always had the capacity to surprise us and to do things their way.”