Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have been given a thoughtful gift from the Queen – a cottage on the grounds of their wedding venue.
As if already having a home in the grounds of Kensington Palace and York Cottage on the Queen’s Sandringham Estate wasn’t enough, the Duke and Duchess Of Sussex can now reportedly add Adelaide Cottage to their real estate profile.
Adelaide Cottage is situated in the grounds of Windsor Castle, the location of Harry and Meghan’s 19 May nuptials.
It comes with plenty of royal history, being the previous home of Peter Townsend – the Queen’s sister Princess Margaret’s former lover.
The cottage’s main bedroom is so lavish it features a ‘coved ceiling with gilded dolphins and rope ornament reused from the Royal yacht Royal George’, reports Historic England.
Meghan and Harry reportedly fell in love with the cottage after they had a viewing of it earlier this summer, reports Mail Online.
Built on the grounds of Windsor Castle in 1831, it was used originally as a haven for William IV’s wife, Queen Adelaide, hence the name.
Harry and Meghan already own Nottingham Cottage in the grounds of Kensington Palace, which is a 1,300-square-foot, two-bedroom pad that used to belong to the Queen’s nanny Marion Crawford.
Kensington Palace was originally known as Nottingham House.
It was then a mansion that had been bought by William III in 1689 as he was looking for a lavish home away from the River Thames.
Sovereigns then used Kensington Palace as their main home until George II’s death there in 1760.
It’s also believed that Harry and Meghan may have put money down on a bolthole in the Cotswolds.
The pair have reportedly signed a two-year lease on a property in Great Tew in Oxfordshire, close by to where Victoria and David Beckham have a home.
And all of this is not forgetting York Cottage, the stunning property the Queen reportedly gave her grandson and his new wife as a wedding present.
York Cottage is a royal stately home in the grounds of Sandringham Estate, where the Queen’s beloved Norfolk home Sandringham House is situated.
It will provide the newlywed couple with much-needed sanctuary from being in the world’s lens and will mean they can escape London for some time alone.
Ironically, York Cottage used to be known as the Bachelor’s Cottage.
It was gifted by the future King Edward VII, then the Prince of Wales, to his son Prince George, the Duke of York (later King George V) in 1893.
The Duke Of York lived there with Princess Mary after their marriage.
The cottage – which is currently used as holiday accommodation and, in part, as accommodation for estate staff – is said to resemble ‘three Merrie England pubs joined together’, oozing charm and character.
A look back in time
Photos from the late 19th Century show York Cottage, then inhabited by King George V and Princess Mary, the Duchess Of York.
Lady Donaldson, the first female Lord Mayor of London, once wrote of the cottage: ‘York Cottage in its own context is a monument to the eccentricity of the family who lived there’.
The Queen did the same for Prince William and Kate Middleton, gifting them Anmer Hall on the Sandringham Estate.
Likewise, Prince Charles was gifted Birkhall in on Royal Deeside, Aberdeenshire in Scotland and Prince Andrew was given Sunninghill Park in Berkshire.
Wills and Kate chose to bring Prince George to nursery in Norfolk, later moving back to Kensington palace where Charlotte now goes to nursery and George goes to school.
If Harry and Meghan decide they would like children, they may decide to spend their first born’s early years in Norfolk too.
MORE: How to recreate Meghan Markle’s wedding bouquet yourself – and at half the cost
MORE: Prince Harry and Meghan Markle ‘rent love nest in The Cotswolds close to David and Victoria Beckham’
MORE: Celebrity Big Brother 2018 cast rumours include Samantha Markle, Noel Edmonds and Dan Osborne
MORE: Samantha Markle’s most controversial statements ahead of Celebrity Big Brother launch