Prince William and Kate Middleton’s Kensington Palace apartment is ‘enormous’

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s Kensington Palace apartment is ‘enormous’ with ’20 rooms from the basement to the attic’, royal experts have claimed.

Prince William, 39, and Kate, 38, live with their children Prince George, seven, Prince Charlotte, five, and Prince Louis, two, in the private home – number 1A – when staying in London.

But royal commentators have urged fans not to be fooled into believing the property is a small abode because of its apartment title.

Speaking on True Royalty’s Royal Beat, British royal author Christopher Warwick said: ‘It has 20 rooms from the basement to the attic, it is not a small house.

‘All of these royal residences at Kensington Palace are called apartments, which of course makes people immediately think they are flats like the American term for an apartment.

‘They are not. If you think of Kensington Place in a way it is built around three courtyards. If you kind of think of them as being these wonderful red brick terrace houses. Because they are all joined, but separate houses,’ he added.

Royal author Ingrid Seward said: ‘It’s enormous… and it’s like a piece of countryside in London.’

Royal fans were treated to a glimpse of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s London home in 2016, when they entertained US President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle in their drawing room.

The property was refurbished with £4.5million of taxpayers’ money – although the couple footed the bill for fixtures and furnishing themselves.

Kate had the help of an interior designer, but the look didn’t appear to be particularly grand and far from palatial, more comfortable country home.

The cream sofas were littered with floral cushions, while a large hexagonal footstool was added to the middle of their drawing room.

In the corner was a baby grand piano covered with family photographs and flowers, indicating it was more decorative than anything else. 

The side tables were also filled with pictures including a young Prince William with a shock of blonde hair. The couple even had a drinks tray in the corner of the drawing room – which contained bottles of £12 Smirnoff vodka and £14 Gordon’s gin. 

Apartment 1A is a spacious four-storey property with its own large south-facing walled garden. It takes up half the Clock Tower wing designed by Sir Christopher Wren for King William and Queen Mary.

The living space has previously included five reception rooms, three main bedrooms, dressing rooms and bathrooms, a night and day nursery and nine staff bedrooms. 

On the first floor are the master bedrooms with en-suite bathrooms, and his-and-hers dressing rooms.

On the top floor, reached by a lift, are the bedrooms for staff, while a basement area where the photographer Earl of Snowdon once had his darkroom is now a well-appointed gym with laundry and luggage rooms nearby.

The kitchen, on which the couple spent £170,000 of their own money, is the heart of this royal home, and where they like to entertain close friends and family.

For more formal occasions guests, who arrive through a bright and airy entrance hall with intricate cornicing and black and white flagstones, are shown to one of the two drawing rooms.

Princess Margaret and Lord Snowdon, who moved in following a £1.5million programme of refurbishment in 1963, famously installed a ‘futuristic’ kitchen complete with sleek Formica and teak units. It has since been ripped out.

Prior to the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge moving in, the property had been managed by the charity Historic Royal Palaces (HRP), which used it as office and exhibition space.

As HRP has already spent a substantial amount of its own money on remedial work, the Queen was forced to compensate it for handing the building over to William and Kate.