Fort Belvedere, Windlesham Moor and other lesser-known royal properties ► NewsColt

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The £30million Royal Lodge at Windsor has been Prince Andrew’s residence for 20 years.

So the Duke of York was said to be ‘distraught’ when it emerged that his brother wants him to go away and downgrade to shut by Frogmore Cottage as an alternative.

Certainly, closing week The Mail on Sunday revealed that Andrew is ‘refusing to budge’, although King Charles’s selection to cut his brother’s annual family subsidy could in the end strain the problem.

However there’s really a protracted historic previous of royals residing in lodging that’s, by the necessities of the likes of Buckingham Palace and Windsor Fort, comparatively modest. 

The £30million Royal Lodge at Windsor has been Prince Andrew’s residence for nearly 20 years

As an example, the rented Windlesham Moor, in Surrey, was lived in by the late Queen and Prince Philip for two years after their wedding ceremony in 1947, and it equipped the setting for the toddler King Charles’s preliminary months of bonding alongside along with his dad and mother. 

Fort Belvedere, in Windsor Nice Park, was the favourite residence of King Edward VIII, who lived there every sooner than and after he grew to turn into monarch. It was the place he signed the papers that sealed his infamous Abdication in 1936.

And York Cottage, on the Sandringham property in Norfolk, was a cherished nation retreat of King George V, nonetheless hated by his partner Queen Mary and their six children. 

Right here, The Mail’s new Royals half delves into the historic previous of those three homes, along with some other lesser-known properties which have carried out a component throughout the royal life.  

Windlesham Moor

Shortly after they married in 1947, the then Princess Elizabeth and her new husband Prince Philip rented Windlesham Moor, an enormous Victorian villa in Surrey, and lived there until late in 1949. 

While their first son was born at Buckingham Palace in November 1948, it was at Windlesham that the long run King was initially raised.

Pictures current the tiny prince at Windlesham. One snap reveals Charles sitting in a play pen as his mother smiles at him.

One other {{photograph}} reveals the teenager alongside along with his dad and mother as they sit on the backyard. A third image reveals the royal couple pushing Charles by Windlesham Moor’s grounds in his pram.  

Windlesham was six miles from Windsor Fort, and moreover not faraway from Bagshot Park, which is now the home of Prince Edward and his partner Sophie, the Countess of Wessex.

The Victorian residence, set in 50 acres, was bought by millionaire financier Philip Hill in 1942, when it was in a state of disrepair. After his lack of life two years later, it was owned by his widow.

Pictures current the tiny prince at Windlesham. One snap reveals Charles sitting in a play pen as his mother smiles at him

Shortly after they married in 1947, the then Princess Elizabeth and her new husband Prince Philip rented Windlesham Moor in Surrey. Above: The couple push a baby Prince Charles by the grounds

One other {{photograph}} reveals the teenager alongside along with his dad and mother as they sit on the backyard at Windlesham in July 1949, when Charles was aged merely 9 months

Prince Philip holds his eldest son in his arms at Windlesham as Princess Elizabeth seems on. The {photograph} was taken in July 1949

An aerial view of Windlesham Moor in Surrey, the nation residence of then Princess Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh

In July 1948, the Each day Mail reported how a ‘convoy’ of vans carrying wedding ceremony objects made its method from St James’s Palace to Windlesham.

The Princess chosen the objects that she wished in her residence, and they then made their resolution to her ‘beneath heavy police escort’. 

In Might 1949, the long run Queen opened up the grounds of the home to fifteen,000 friends. Their arrival blocked up the native roads with web site guests. 

The royal couple left Windlesham in late 1949, when the lease expired.  

The property was later lived in Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum, who was the deputy ruler of Dubai from 2006 until his lack of life in March 2021. 

The Victorian residence, set in 50 acres, was bought by millionaire financier Philip Hill in 1942, when it was in a state of disrepair. After his lack of life two years later, it was owned by his widow. Above: Windlesham Moor in 1948

Fort Belvedere 

Fort Belvedere grew to turn into the first residence of King Edward VIII in 1929, when he was nonetheless the Prince of Wales.

Only a transient drive from Windsor Fort, the home was constructed after the infamous Jacobite rising of 1945, when forces led by Bonnie Prince Charles tried to seize the throne.

The Grade II-listed residence, which as quickly as boasted numerous cannons used throughout the Jacobite rising, was first remodeled into a country retreat by King George IV in 1827.

The monarch added a consuming room and other facilities to the property, which was moreover used as a saluting battery for royal birthdays and other royal events.

The contingent of troopers based on the fort was decreased as a result of the a very long time progressed, sooner than the ultimate remaining gunner died in 1910.

Throughout the reign of Queen Victoria, it was used as a tea dwelling within the summertime months.

Fort Belvedere grew to turn into the first residence of the long run King Edward VIII in 1929, when he was the Prince of Wales. Above: The outside of the property pictured in 2006

Fort Belvedere grew to turn into the first residence of King Edward VIII in 1929, when he was nonetheless the Prince of Wales. Above: An aerial view of the home on the time of the Abdication  

The Duke’s abdication, which occurred in December 1936, rocked the monarchy and the nation to its core. Above: Edward giving his abdication broadcast to the nation from Windsor Fort

Edward rescued the establishing from falling into decay and spending huge portions of his private money enlarging and enhancing the distinctive building.

He put in a swimming pool, a tennis courtroom and even a Turkish bathtub.

The long run king moreover had his private aeroplanes and personal landing house near the fort, the place he held lavish occasions. 

Within the occasions sooner than his abdication, Stanley Baldwin, the Prime Minister, traveled to Fort Belvedere to see Edward.

The night time time sooner than he stood down as king, Edward dined alongside along with his brother the Duke of York, who would go on to alter into King George VI. 

The next day, on December 11, 1936, the Each day Mail reported that Edward ‘signed the instrument of abdication at 10 a.m. to-day in his study on the underside flooring of Fort Belvedere.

‘On the signing handed off the flag of the Duchy of Cornwall over the fort was lowered and later it was run up as soon as extra to the masthead.

One of many bedrooms inside Fort Belvedere is pictured above in 1976, when it was occupied by personal tenants

Fort Belvedere was constructed throughout the 18th century after the failed attempt by ‘Younger Pretender’ Charles Edward Stuart to attain the throne for his father James Francis Edward Stuart. The fort as quickly as boasted numerous cannons (pictured in 1929) used throughout the Jacobite rising

The residence, which was remodeled into a country retreat by King George IV in 1827, was adored by Edward and it was the place he signed his abdication papers in 1936 after merely 11 months on the throne. Pictured: Edward and Wallis at Fort Belvedere sooner than he abdicated 

Aerial view of the Duke of Windsor’s grade II listed – Fort Belvedere. This Gothic revival residence in Windsor Nice Park is the place the Abdication was signed in December 1936

Fort Belvedere on Shrubs Hill in Windsor Nice Park, Surrey, UK, twelfth June 1963. It was then lived in by Gerald and Angela Lascelles

The fort is seen when it was occupied by King Edward VIII. Within the twenty years after Edward left, Fort Belvedere remained largely empty

The Duke of Windsor is seen standing throughout the grounds of Fort Belvedere throughout the early Nineteen Thirties, sooner than he grew to turn into King Edward VIII

The outside of Fort Belvedere is seen in 1939, three years after Edward VIII had abdicated. Afterwards, he was given the Duke of Windsor title by his brother, King George VI

The outside of Fort Belvedere is seen in March 1936, 9 months sooner than the Abdication Disaster shook the monarchy to its core

‘Crowds gathered at every the first gates of Fort Belvedere early throughout the day, and at 10 o’clock the three Royal Dukes arrived individually to play their half throughout the closing act of in all probability essentially the most dramatic sequences in historic previous.

‘On the time not one of many spectators knew that the Princes had come to witness the signing of the abdication of their brother. ‘

His three brothers have been there to witness Edward sign the abdication notices.

After Edward’s abdication, he’s reported to have been very upset when his brother, the model new king, refused to renew the warrant allowing him to occupy Fort Belvedere.

Within the twenty years after Edward left, Fort Belvedere largely remained empty, nonetheless was used all through the Second World Warfare by the Workplace of the Commissioners of Crown Lands, who had been evacuated from their London workplaces.

A dispatch rider brings the Abdication Invoice to Fort Belvedere for King Edward VIII to sign. King Edward ceased to be King at 1.52am on December 11, 1936

Reporters are seen on the gates of Fort Belvedere all through the abdication catastrophe in 1936. Edward wanted to abdicate on account of he insisted on marrying divorcee Wallis Simpson

The Instrument of Abdication of King Edward VIII, tenth December 1936. It was signed by himself and his three brothers, Albert (George VI), Henry (Duke of Gloucester) and George (Duke of Kent) at Fort Belvedere in Berkshire

The residence was later lived in by Gerald Lascelles – a grandson of King George V – and then Galen Weston, a Canadian billionaire. 

The property continues to be occupied by the Weston family nonetheless is owned by the Crown Property. 

Belvedere was moreover reportedly regarded as a home by the Prince and Princess of Wales, sooner than they launched closing August that they’ve been shifting to Adelaide Cottage, moreover near Windsor.

It was as quickly as lived in by Group Captain Peter Townsend when he was equerry to King George VI. He famously had a relationship with Princess Margaret. 

White Lodge  

As certainly one of many world’s excessive ballet schools, it’s turning into that White Lodge has a prestigious historic previous.

The 18th-century residence’s largest declare to fame is that it was the place, on June 23, 1894, the one who would change the face of the monarchy eternally was born. 

Edward VIII, then a humble prince, was the eldest little one of many then Duke and Duchess of York (later King George V and Queen Mary).

As certainly one of many world’s excessive ballet schools, it’s turning into that White Lodge has a prestigious historic previous. The property is now residence to the Royal Ballet Decrease College 

Queen Victoria sits alongside together with her great-grandson, the toddler Prince Edward (later King Edward VIII) on her knee after his christening whereas his mother Mary (later Queen Mary) and grandmother Queen Alexandra (correct) stand behind them, at White Lodge, Richmond Park, London,  July 1894

Queen Victoria sits alongside together with her new youngster great-grandson Prince Edward – later King Edward VIII – at White Lodge in 1894. She is flanked by her son the Prince of Wales (left, later King Edward VII) and grandson the Duke of York (King George V)

On the time of his starting, his great-grandmother Queen Victoria was successfully in to her sixth decade as monarch. Pictures current her sitting throughout the yard of White Lodge, cradling the little prince in her arms.

The Duke and Duchess of York had been using the property as a London base on the time of Edward’s starting. He was moreover christened there. 

The property, which is nestled throughout the 1,000-hectare Richmond Park in West London, was inbuilt spherical 1727 and was initially typically referred to as Stone Lodge. 

Its strong of earlier residents comprises King Edward VII, who lived there from the late 1850s, when he was the Prince of Wales. 

Queen Victoria stayed on the lodge in 1861, the 12 months of her husband Prince Albert’s lack of life. 

The monarch then granted it to the Duke and Duchess of Teck. It was their daughter Mary who would turn into George V’s partner. 

Standing given that Though it has not been a personal residence for a few years and is now a excessive ballet college 

After Victoria’s lack of life in 1901, White Lodge was occupied by extreme society widow Eliza Emma Hartmann.

After she was declared bankrupt in 1909, the home returned to royal use in 1923 all through the honeymoon of the long run King George VI, who married Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon – the long run Queen Mom.

The Duke and Duchess of York, as they’ve been then acknowledged, ended up residing throughout the property until 1925. 

There they’ve been beset by sightseers who would flock to the park at weekends and all through holidays to get a glimpse of the royal couple. 

In early 1927 it was leased to Lord Arthur Lee and his partner. Lord Lee was then serving as First Lord of the Admiralty. 

In 1955, White Lodge grew to turn into the home of Sadler’s Wells Ballet College. 

It stays certainly one of many world’s excessive ballet schools and is residence to higher than 100 boarders aged 11-16. 

White Lodge, the home of Queen Mary sooner than her marriage, and the birthplace of Edward VIII, 1936

Princess Mary Adelaide (left) alongside together with her daughter, the long run Queen Mary, at White Lodge in 1891, 4 years sooner than the start of Prince Edward

King Edward VII (far correct) is seen at White Lodge with (left to correct, standing) the Duke of Clarence, the Queen of Norway, and his partner Queen Alexandra. Seated: King George (then Prince of Wales) and Princess Victoria

In 1955, White Lodge grew to turn into the home of Sadler’s Wells Ballet College. It stays certainly one of many world’s excessive ballet schools and is residence to higher than 100 boarders aged 11-16. Above: Junior ballerinas having fun with throughout the grounds of the home

York Cottage 

While White Lodge was the place Edward was born, it was at York Cottage, on the Sandringham property in Norfolk, the place Edward spent numerous his childhood.

In 1893, the home was given to his dad and mother as a wedding reward by King Edward VII, then the Prince of Wales.  

The property, small by royal necessities, grew to turn into George V’s cherished family retreat and he and his family would end up residing there for higher than 30 years. 

Their 5 youngest children – Princess Mary, Prince Henry, Prince George and Prince John – have been all born there and King George favored its small rooms on account of they reminded the earlier sailor of his ship’s quarters. 

Nonetheless, others didn’t view the home’s twisting corridors and small areas with as loads love. Queen Mary herself thought it was ugly and didn’t have the benefit of residing there.

While White Lodge was the place Edward was born, it was at York Cottage, on the Sandringham property in Norfolk, the place Edward spent numerous his childhood

Contained in the drawing room at York Cottage at Sandringham pictured in October 1897, after it had been given by Edward VII – then the Prince of Wales – to his son as a wedding reward

Prince Henry of Wales, the Duke of Gloucester is pictured at York Cottage in September 1902. Prince Henry was the third son of King George V

Queen Victoria had labelled it ‘unlucky and sad’. 

One other buyer described it as ‘a glum little villa surrounded by thickets of laurel and rhododendron [with] a pond, on the perimeter of which a leaden pelican gazes in dejection on the water beneath.

‘The rooms inside, with their fumed oak surrounds . . . are indistinguishable from these of any Surbiton residence.’

When it was given to George, the home was often called the Batchelor’s Cottage. It had been designed by a Colonel Edis, an earlier pal of Edward VII. 

Nonetheless, in line with biographer James Pope-Hennessy: ‘The basic drawback was that he was not an architect the least bit.’ 

To accommodate George V and his rising family, York Cottage wanted to be extended twice, making its look – in line with Pope-Hennessy – ‘even odder’.

Regardless of this, there was nonetheless an absence of privateness that was made worse by the reality {that a} massive physique of employees – equerries, ladies-in-waiting, personal secretaries, maids and cooks – moreover wanted to be accommodated. 

The King’s personal secretary needed to make use of his tiny mattress room as an office, whereas Christmases grew to turn into ‘a feast of acrimony’, in line with Edward VIII.

Pictured: The rear view of York Cottage at Sandringham in Norfolk, full with conservatory. The residence was hated by many, nonetheless George V beloved it

York Cottage is seen in 1895. When it was given to George, the home was often called the Batchelor’s Cottage. It had been designed by a Colonel Edis, an earlier pal of Edward VII

York Cottage is seen in 1895, beneath headshots exhibiting the then Prince and Princess of Wales with their six children

‘An setting of restriction, killjoy pompousness, thriller, artificiality, and in all probability essentially the most full and utter boredom. And that doesn’t even begin to clarify how ghastly it’s,’ he added. 

In 1925, George and Queen Mary moved to the first dwelling at Sandringham after the lack of lifetime of his mother Queen Alexandra.  

The property now serves as a result of the employees office for the Sandringham property. 

In 2018, it was reported that Prince Harry and his then fiancée Meghan Markle had appeared on the property, sooner than they received Frogmore Cottage at Windsor. 

Cumberland Lodge

Cumberland Lodge, in Windsor Nice Park, is one other property that boasts a connection to Edward VIII.

Throughout the Abdication Disaster in 1936, it was used for conferences between the King’s Personal Secretary Alexander Hardinge and Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin.

The residence was constructed throughout the Seventeenth-century and will get its title from William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland and second son King George II. 

The lodge was traditionally the home of Rangers to the Nice Park, who’ve been always close to the monarch.

Queen Victoria made her husband Prince Albert the ranger. After his lack of life in 1861, Prince Christian – the husband of her daughter Princess Helena, grew to turn into the ranger. 

Cumberland Lodge, in Windsor Nice Park, is one other property that boasts a connection to Edward VIII. Throughout the Abdication Disaster in 1936, it was used for conferences between the King’s Personal Secretary Alexander Hardinge and Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin

As a consequence, the couple lived at Cumberland Lodge and it’s there the place Prince Christian died in 1917.

In 1900, the Each day Mail reported how a four-mile telephone line had been put in between Windsor Fort and Cumberland Lodge, putting the Queen in ‘simple communication with Prince and Princess Christian’.

The know-how did away with ‘the change of messages by mounted courier between the Fort and Lodge’.

In 1907, the newspaper referred to the ‘good’ grape vines near Cumberland Lodge that had ‘been bearing luscious fruit for the Sovereigns of England for nearly 150 years’.  

Queen Victoria’s daughter Princess Helena lived at Cumberland Lodge alongside together with her husband Prince Christian, after he was made the Ranger of Windsor Nice Park by his mother-in-law. Above: Princess Helana in 1890; Prince Christian in 1875

The ultimate personal resident was Conservative politician Edmund FitzAlan-Howard, who lived there from 1924 alongside along with his partner Woman Mary Bertie. FitzAlan-Howard served as a result of the ultimate Viceroy of Eire.

In 1938, the Each day Mail reported how the property was burgled when the physique of Woman Mary Bertie, who had solely simply recently died, was nonetheless there. Jewelry was stolen.  

In 1949, King George VI broke let Cumberland Lodge be utilized by a model new tutorial foundation established by creator Amy Buller, whose e book Darkness Over Germany suggested of the rise of Nazi sentiments amongst school college students and lecturers in Germany throughout the late Nineteen Thirties. 

The charity, now acknowledged merely as Cumberland Lodge, was initially often called the St Catherine’s Basis and then grew to turn into The King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Basis of St Catharine. 

The organisation website online says it promotes ‘administration, collaboration and latest ideas that assist our imaginative and prescient of additional peaceful, open and inclusive societies.’ 

The within and exterior of Cumberland Lodge have been utilized in 2010 film The King’s Speech.

Thatched Home Lodge 

Thatched Home Lodge, moreover in Richmond Park, is the home of Princess Alexandra, The Honourable Woman Ogilvy. 

The 86-year-old and the late Queen have been first cousins, by their fathers, Prince George, Duke of Kent his brother King George VI.

Princess Alexandra’s father was killed in a plane crash in Scotland in 1942, a lack of life that shocked the nation and the royal family amid the struggles of the Second World Warfare. 

Thatched Home Lodge, moreover in Richmond Park, is the home of Princess Alexandra, The Honourable Woman Ogilvy. Above: The property in 1963

Princess Alexandra is seen exterior her residence in 1963, the 12 months that she and her husband Angus Ogilvy moved in

She has lived at Thatched Home Lodge since her marriage to Sir Angus Ogilvy in 1963. The businessman died aged 76 in 2004. 

The couple’s two children have been born on the property, which dates once more to the Seventeenth-century and was enlarged throughout the 1720s for Sir Robert Walpole. Walpole was thought of Britain’s first Prime Minister.

Throughout the wrestle, regular Dwight Eisenhower, who went on to alter into US President, had a set there. 

Sir Angus Ogilvy bought the home on the open market, nonetheless nonetheless wanted to pay a lease to the Crown Property. Any new proprietor would nonetheless should pay an annual lease to the property. 

The couple’s two children have been born on the property, which dates once more to the Seventeenth-century and was enlarged throughout the 1720s for Sir Robert Walpole. Walpole was thought of Britain’s first Prime Minister. Above: Princess Alexandra and husband Angus Ogilvy at Thatched Home Lodge in 1963

Thatched Home Lodge is pictured above in 1992. Princess Alexandra was a major cousin of the Queen by her father

Princess Alexandra, The Honourable Woman Ogilvy, all through the State Funeral of Queen Elizabeth II, held at Westminster Abbey



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