What with all the last-minute wedding preparations, it’s hardly likelyPrince William and Kate Middleton will have had time to do much house-hunting.
With that in mind, we have launched our own home search on their behalf. We’ve concentrated on those parts of the country where the young couple have sentimental or family ties, and come up with a selection of properties from which they might begin their ascent up the property ladder.
Of course, it’s not like finding a home for a normal pair of newly-weds. Considerations have to include security, privacy and proximity to royal palaces. Not to mention public and press perceptions.
Admittedly, the Prince’s RAF posting to Anglesey has some time to run, but it’s never too early to start planning ahead, especially if (as the nation fondly hopes) Kate and William might soon start a family.
Come to think of it, if the Queen doesn’t want to give them fish knives and a toaster as a wedding present, she might gift one of these houses to them outright.
Let’s face it, sharing with Prince Harry at Clarence House isn’t going to work out as a long-term option. Far better for Kate and William to get a place of their own. And there’s a cosy little three-bedroomed house in Donne Place, just behind Walton Street, in South Kensington. Though it looks tiny from the outside, the walls on the ground floor have been knocked through, so you can see right out to the back, where there are no less than three little terraces.
Of course, the chances of paparazzi paying for prime windowspace might mean the couple would be better off buying a place where it’s they who are doing the overlooking.
In this case, a three-bedroom apartment with views onto Vincent Square, home to Westminster School playing fields, is about the closest you can get to the SW1 countryside, bar Buckingham Palace itself.
Should security conditions require a more fortresslike residence for the young royals, then Hill Street, in Mayfair, should fit the bill. This 10-bedroom Georgian mansion (pictured above), combines elegant Grecian columns, a glass lift and an indoor swimming pool with ring-of-steel-type features.
These include a four-limousine-size bullet-proof garage and a four-bedroom mews house that can accommodate any number of security guards. Plus a price tag so big (£48 million) that even the Queen might have trouble getting a mortgage.
With that in mind, we have launched our own home search on their behalf. We’ve concentrated on those parts of the country where the young couple have sentimental or family ties, and come up with a selection of properties from which they might begin their ascent up the property ladder.
Of course, it’s not like finding a home for a normal pair of newly-weds. Considerations have to include security, privacy and proximity to royal palaces. Not to mention public and press perceptions.
Admittedly, the Prince’s RAF posting to Anglesey has some time to run, but it’s never too early to start planning ahead, especially if (as the nation fondly hopes) Kate and William might soon start a family.
Come to think of it, if the Queen doesn’t want to give them fish knives and a toaster as a wedding present, she might gift one of these houses to them outright.
Let’s face it, sharing with Prince Harry at Clarence House isn’t going to work out as a long-term option. Far better for Kate and William to get a place of their own. And there’s a cosy little three-bedroomed house in Donne Place, just behind Walton Street, in South Kensington. Though it looks tiny from the outside, the walls on the ground floor have been knocked through, so you can see right out to the back, where there are no less than three little terraces.
Of course, the chances of paparazzi paying for prime windowspace might mean the couple would be better off buying a place where it’s they who are doing the overlooking.
In this case, a three-bedroom apartment with views onto Vincent Square, home to Westminster School playing fields, is about the closest you can get to the SW1 countryside, bar Buckingham Palace itself.
Should security conditions require a more fortresslike residence for the young royals, then Hill Street, in Mayfair, should fit the bill. This 10-bedroom Georgian mansion (pictured above), combines elegant Grecian columns, a glass lift and an indoor swimming pool with ring-of-steel-type features.
