Why the Wales family won’t move again - and it’s all to do with Kate Middleton’s own childhood

An inside source has shared their belief that Kate Middleton and Prince William will stay at their Windsor home for the foreseeable future and want to make sure not to ‘uproot’ their children as Kate’s childhood was ‘rather chaotic with several moves’ around the world. 

Prince William and Kate Middleton have long been praised for their family first approach to royal life. While they have many royal duties as Prince and Princess of Wales, the couple see their roles as a mother and father as far more important and that’s completely understandable. From Kate Middleton breaking royal protocol to ‘support’ Prince George through a hectic time at school to Prince William showing off his hands-on parenting style that goes against a centuries-old approach to parenting young royals, the couple’s approach to family life may ‘raise eyebrows’ within The Firm, but they’re sticking to their family-orientated values. 

One of the most important aspects of their family life is the stable home they’ve made for themselves in Windsor. The family of five moved into Adelaide Cottage last year and have settled into the quiet life offered by their remote location. With 655 acres for the kids to play in, the home may have some strict rules preventing the family from turning it into their dream space, but it does mean they’ve escaped from the ‘glorious prison’ of London where they felt like they were in a ‘goldfish bowl.’

But it’s more than the security of the estate that’s keeping the Waleses at Adelaide Cottage. According to one inside source, both Kate and William are planning to raise their children at that home for the foreseeable future and don’t want to take them on royal tours or move them around the country to new estates for fear that they would feel ‘uprooted’ in the ‘chaos’ of royal life. 

Speaking to OK! Magazine, a source revealed, “William and Kate have been put in a very difficult position of choosing between the right path for their family or the future of the monarchy. Both are very important to them, but they have decided to put their children first while they are so young.”

One way in which they are doing this is to keep the kids at home in a stable routine and environment. The source shared that one of the parents’ motivations for this choice was Kate’s own childhood in which she was ‘moved’ around both England and the Middle East, experiencing a ‘chaotic’ childhood where she was never settled in one place for too long. 

“Kate’s childhood was rather chaotic with several moves to the Middle East and around England and so was William’s when he toured with his parents or was sent away to boarding school,” the source said. “Both of them don’t want that for their children until they are old enough to cope with it.”

It’s not just keeping the kids at home that’s a priority for Kate, but also making sure that they have at least one parent with them there at all times. As the source points out, this is a massive deviation from royal tradition. Traditionally, royal duties have seemed to come before parenting style and many royals, including the late Queen Elizabeth, have left their kids at home in someone else's care while they jetted off around the world for royal tours. 

The source cites Princess Diana’s reluctance to leave the newborn Prince William at home during her and the then-Prince-Charles’ tour of Australia and New Zealand in 1983 as inspiration behind William and Kate’s approach. Diana, at the time, chose to bring William with her on the trip and subsequently forever changed the royals’ approach to overseas trips. 

The source added, “William and Kate have decided to take it one step further by at least one of them staying home with the children. It’s as simple as that.”

Still, their decisions have caused some tension within The Firm. “There’s a growing feeling that William and Kate aren’t pulling their weight,” the source told OK!. “They are the future of the monarchy and are themselves senior members of the Royal Family.”

So while royal fans may appreciate the couple’s family-orientated approach, the Royal Family are trying to get them to reprioritise and head off for new royal duties. According to the source, “There are ongoing discussions about the best way to handle the tour and to what extent William and Kate will be included.”

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