Why Kate Middleton and Prince William Still Won’t Employ Live-In Staff Even After Moving to a Larger Home

The Prince and Princess of Wales’ family is “far more ordinary than many might imagine.”

The Gist

• News broke this week that Prince William, Kate Middleton, and their three kids will relocate to the larger Forest Lodge property by the end of the year.
• The family doesn’t currently have any live-in staff at their home, Adelaide Cottage, a four-bedroom home on the Windsor estate, and that will likely not change.
• It’s all in a bid to keep Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis as grounded as possible, even though they were born royal.

Prince William and Kate Middleton don’t currently have any staff living with them at their home, the four-bedroom Adelaide Cottage on the Windsor estate. When they relocate to the larger eight-bedroom Forest Lodge—nestled in Windsor Great Park—later this year, that won’t change, and there will be no housekeepers, nannies, or security living with them in the home itself.

Though staff will likely live in cottages nearby, the Prince and Princess of Wales don’t allow staff to live with them and kids Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis in a bid to keep the kids’ lives as normal as possible, though they are royal. All three kids are “expected to muck in,” royal biographer Katie Nicholl said, and they “have to do chores in return for their pocket money.”

“They absolutely do menial tasks,” Nicholl said, per The Mirror. “They are far more ordinary than many might imagine.”

She added that “It’s about them wanting to have a normal, happy, ordinary family home and lifestyle which, at Adelaide Cottage, they are really achieving.”

Fellow royal biographer Robert Hardman added that at Adelaide Cottage, William and Kate didn’t employ live-in staff “not least because there would be little room to do so.” But even as the Prince and Princess of Wales and their family move to a larger home, that won’t change.

“I think it would surprise people to see how ordinary things are at home,” a source said, per The Mirror. “The children help with laying the table, clearing their plates when they’ve finished eating, and helping with tidying up. There’s no preferential treatment.”

The Wales family of five intend to stay at Forest Lodge even after William becomes king, with a source telling The Telegraph, “This is a move for the long term. It is the family’s intention to stay in their new home after reign change.”

Unlike Queen Elizabeth—who lived at Buckingham Palace the majority of her reign—William will likely opt to only use the palace for his office. “I don’t think it was ever loved,” historian and royal biographer Robert Lacey told The Telegraph of Buckingham Palace, adding “it was always seen as an office. I think, actually, as an office it has been very successful. As a ceremonial figurehead for the royal family, as the place that visitors identify with, it’s been a great success.”

“The point is, it is now a working office building,” Lacey continued. “And people don’t live in their office, and so maybe the way ahead is for royal spokespeople to present more clearly its role. It still remains the headquarters, and it will never lose its ceremonial dimension.”