Kate Middleton and Prince William's 'Forever Home' Underwent $500K Renovation Before Move-In

Janine HenniFri, June 5, 2026 at 5:32 PM UTC

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Prince William and Kate Middleton on July 8, 2025; Forest Lodge in Windsor Great Park in 2018Credit: Chris Jackson/Getty; English Heritage/Heritage Images/Getty -

The Crown Estate spent over $500,000 on repairs to Forest Lodge before Prince William and Kate Middleton moved in, a new audit revealed

The Prince and Princess of Wales are currently paying $410,691 annually for a 20-year lease of the mansion

The couple moved into Forest Lodge early in October 2025 after leaving Adelaide Cottage

A new report is revealing how much work went into Forest Lodge before Kate Middleton and Prince William moved in.

On June 5, the National Audit Office of the U.K. released a report titled "Investigation into residential property arrangements with members of the Royal Family," which revealed how much was spent on renovating the Prince and Princess of Wales' "forever home" in Windsor.

According to the report, the Crown Estate (TCE) paid around $534,982 to repair Forest Lodge, the three cottages and property grounds before Prince William, 43, and Princess Kate, 44, moved in during the fall of 2025. The Crown Estate is an independent commercial business with a vast portfolio of land and property managed on behalf of the British government; it does not belong to King Charles, and any revenue account profit from it flows to the Treasury.

The refurbishments that the Crown Estate funded for Forest Lodge were broken down into about $285,228 for work on the house and surrounding grounds, including "heating and plumbing, structural repairs to ceilings, floor, stairs, fire alarms, brickwork, boilers, stabilising external walls for safety, and similar works to ensure safety and compliance." An additional sum of about $65,000 was spent on repairing "No 2 Stable Cottages," $121,000 on "No 3 Stable Cottages" and $59,400 on "The Barn." No work was conducted on "No 1 Stable Cottages," as the previous tenant only vacated in January.

In July 2025, the Prince and Princess of Wales signed a 20-year lease for the eight-bedroom Georgian-era mansion. PEOPLE understands the residence is the family's "forever home" and where they intend to remain even when William becomes king one day.

Forest Lodge in Windsor Great Park in 2018.Credit: English Heritage/Heritage Images/Getty

The Prince and Princess of Wales are paying about $410,691 annually for that lease, according to the new report. The rent will be reviewed every five years, and the arrangement is technically short-term given the 20-year duration.

The National Audit Office's report outlines, "Typically, short-term lease repair and refurbishment costs are met by the landlord, and with long-leases, the responsibility falls to tenants." The stipulation is why the Crown Estate paid up to refurbish Forest Lodge, "in line with its obligations as the landlord."

Forest Lodge in Windsor Great Park in July 2001.Credit: John Stillwell - PA Images/PA Images via Getty

The report added that Prince William and Princess Kate are living in Forest Lodge "on a 20-year short-term lease with quarterly rent payments and no upfront deposit. This is due to the Prince and Princess of Wales paying for all the internal refurbishments, as is TCE's standard practice for leases of 20 years."

The Prince and Princess of Wales paid for some minor renovations and their move privately. Photos from 2001 showed that Forest Lodge had Venetian windows, decorated ceilings and marble fireplaces throughout.

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Forest Lodge in Windsor Great Park in July 2001.Credit: John Stillwell - PA Images/PA Images via Getty

In addition to the roughly $411,000 William and Kate are paying annually to rent Forest Lodge, they are also spending about $26,470.32 annually to rent a property called Staff Lodge 1, Windsor Estate.

The report said that the residence's lease began in August 2022, and its latest lease renewal was in May 2025. It is described as a "two-bed terrace house and garden," and the occupant is an "employee of the Prince and Princess of Wales."

The home may belong to the family's longtime nanny, Maria Teresa Turrion Borrallo, who has worked for them since Prince George was a baby. "Nanny Maria," as Borrallo is affectionately nicknamed, initially lived with the family at Kensington Palace in London when George, Charlotte and Louis were younger but didn't join them at Adelaide Cottage, where they moved in the summer of 2022.

The royals moved into Forest Lodge in October 2025, creating a fresh start after a challenging chapter. Adelaide Cottage became the backdrop to Queen Elizabeth's death in September 2022, the turbulence that followed Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's step back from their royal roles and King Charles and Princess Kate's cancer diagnoses, announced in 2024.  (The King's treatment for cancer continues, and the Princess of Wales announced in January 2025 that she is in remission.)

"Adelaide Cottage was a place of pain, suffering and sadness. After such rough times it's perfectly understandable they would want a new place," royal biographer Sally Bedell Smith previously told PEOPLE.

Princess Charlotte, Kate Middleton, Prince George, Prince Louis and Prince William attend the 2026 Easter Matins Service at St George's Chapel on April 5, 2026 in Windsor.Credit: Karwai Tang/WireImage

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Prince William and Princess Kate reportedly threw a party at a local pub in late October 2025 to thank the builders and staff who moved them into Forest Lodge ahead of schedule. The couple had originally planned to move in before Christmas, but the schedule was accelerated to get them in early.

The June 5 dive into the financing by the watchdog came as the first such review in more than 20 years and also explored the arrangements for the former Prince Andrew, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie's residences, among other royal family members.

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