The Princess of Wales is currently recovering in hospital after undergoing “planned abdominal surgery” on Tuesday 16 January, confirmed by a statement released by Kensington Palace.
The spokesperson explained that Princess Kate’s surgery was successful and that she is expected to remain in the hospital “for ten to fourteen days, before returning home to continue her recovery.”
Although the future Queen is receiving the best care possible while staying as an inpatient at The London Clinic, which is one of the best-equipped and largest private hospitals in the country, the royal will no doubt look forward to returning home to be with her husband Prince William and their three children, Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis.
This was reiterated in the statement, which explained further: “The Princess of Wales appreciates the interest this statement will generate. She hopes that the public will understand her desire to maintain as much normality for her children as possible; and her wish that her personal medical information remains private.”
It’s not been confirmed where exactly the Princess of Wales will recover after she is discharged from hospital, but given she is not expected to return to royal engagements until after Easter, she will likely return to her and Prince William’s home in Windsor, Adelaide Cottage.
This also means that the three royal children can continue to go to school at Lambrook, located in Winkfield Row, near Ascot, maintaining “normality” for the royals while Princess Kate continues her recovery at home.
Adelaide Cottage was built in 1831 for Queen Adelaide Consort and King William IV as a day house, a place to visit during the day. The property is located on the grounds of the Windsor Estate in Windsor Great Park, just off the track of The Long Walk. It sits on 655 acres of land and is just a ten-minute stroll from the main castle.
The Grade II-listed residence has four bedrooms – a modest scale in comparison to their London residence – and while royal fans haven’t seen the inside of the property, photos of the outside show how stunning the building is. The light-pink exterior and white detailing around the roof, gutters and windows, as well as being surrounded by greenery give the beautiful building a total fairy tale feel.
A photo posted on a royal fan account on Instagram shows the exterior of Adelaide Cottage including the driveway full of visitor cars – before it was resided by the royals – which also highlights the size of the house. However, the photo in question is a few years old as the walls of the house are white, which have since been painted pink during a renovation.
As well as the main building, there is also a smaller outhouse located just behind. It is not known what the Wales family use this separate property for, however, it could perhaps be used as staff quarters.
In addition to four bedrooms, a kitchen and generous outdoor space, the cottage has an office area for the Prince and Princess of Wales to work from when they’re not busy on location for their royal engagements. The inside of their home office was shown briefly during a video posted by Kensington Royal showing Prince William on a virtual call.
The future King was working from an Apple Mac desktop and, in the background, a glass cabinet can see been, full of beautiful chinaware and ornaments.
Prince William and Kate moved into Adelaide Cottage in September 2022 shortly before Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis enrolled at Lambrook.
The royals do still have their Kensington Palace 1A apartment in the capital, available for when they undertake engagements in London, but residing mostly at Adelaide Cottage affords the family a level of privacy away from the hustle and bustle of the city, as well as being closer to their children’s school.
The royals made the decision to move to Windsor to be closer to Queen Elizabeth II, however, the same month they moved into their idyllic cottage, Her Majesty passed away aged 96. The Wales family also have their country home, Anmer Hall, located on the Sandringham Estate.
