Kate Middleton and Prince William’s soon-to-be neighbors hope that the royal family will be able to have privacy in their new neighborhood.
Residents living in Cranbourne Hall Residential Park near the royal family’s new “forever home” expressed privacy concerns for the royals while speaking to the Daily Mail.
“I welcome them. But I hope the public allow them to live there quietly as a family,” 87-year-old Jean Reeve, who’s lived in the neighborhood for 40 years, told the outlet.
“It’s a less private spot than their previous home — from what I know about the location,” she added. “So I’d hate for people to always be going past and saying, ‘Oh, that’s where they live.’”
She also noted, “They have young children after all. They deserve privacy.”
The royals’ new neighbors expressed enthusiasm at welcoming them into the area.
“I’ve never heard anyone around here say anything anti-royalist. I think most people tend to like them around here,” Cynthia Sullivan, a 72-year-old teacher who has lived in the area for 16 years, said.
Residents hope that Will and Kate, both 43, visit the local shops and pubs.
“Young blood is a good idea. And William and Kate are lovely,” Reeve said, echoing similar statements from her longtime neighbors. “They’re young. They’re family-orientated. They’re always with their children.”
“It’s a new style of monarchy,” she continued. “They’d like to be treated as normal people.”
While the Wales’ new neighbors are welcoming, the Daily Mail previously reported that two separate families who lived in cottages next to the mansion were asked to vacate their properties earlier this summer.
“They were told to move out. I guess they were given somewhere else, but they were told they had to move,” a source claimed to the outlet. “They were not expecting it.”
“Those houses are very close to the lodge, so they’re not going to want any Tom, Dick or Harry living in those houses if there are going to be royals there,” the source added.
But a source told Page Six that the families, who were tenants of the Crown Estate, weren’t given eviction notices and have since moved to similar or better housing elsewhere in the area.
William, Kate and their three children — Prince George, 12, Princess Charlotte, 10, and Prince Louis, 7 — are set to leave Adelaide Cottage — where they’ve lived since 2022 — “later this year,” a spokesperson confirmed to Page Six earlier this month.
The Sun reported that the Wales family is moving to Fort Lodge, an eight-bedroom mansion in Windsor Great Park that will be their “forever home.”
Fort Lodge is reportedly worth approximately $21 million, and according to the report, the family was looking for a new environment after Kate’s cancer battle made for a rough couple of years at Adelaide Cottage.
