William & Kate Spent Way More 'Taxpayer Millions' on Their Home Renovation Than Harry & Meghan

While the British media was screaming and hollering about Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s renovation costs for Frogmore Cottage (and we will repeat for the millionth time, they’ve paid it all back), they were also turning a blind eye to the amount of money Prince William and Kate Middleton spent on Apartment 1A at Kensington Palace. Both were at the taxpayers’ expense initially, but the Sussexes were the only couple to reimburse those charges after they left their senior royal roles.

Royal author Omid Scobie is pointing out those reporting discrepancies and noting how expensive the Cambridges’ “eye-watering renovation bill’ truly was — a whopping $5.4 million. This was supposed to be “their forever home” and the couple even spent an additional $1.2 million to pave a new driveway in 2019, a tab also picked up by the taxpayers. Nine years later, William and Kate have changed their minds about raising their kids in London as they focus on giving Prince George, 9, Princess Charlotte, 7, and Prince Louis, 4, “as normal a life as possible.”

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We can hardly blame them for wanting their children to get “away from the goldfish bowl” in the big city, but is anyone going to question the Cambridges about those hefty Kensington Palace charges besides Scobie? To the couples’ credit, the move to Adelaide Cottage at Windsor is being funded out of their own bank accounts — so they have some financial awareness of the criticism aimed at Harry and Meghan with Frogmore Cottage. That means they are picking up the bill for any renovations as well as accommodations for their nanny, chef, and housekeeper elsewhere on the grounds.

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William and Kate will likely skate by this issue because an insider told Scobie that “Apartment 1A will always be their official residence” and they plan to return once they kids are out of the house. And sure, the Cambridges are in line to become king and queen, unlike Harry and Meghan, so maybe that’s why some of the press avoided covering this issue. But at the end of the day, all royal expenses should be scrutinized, it shouldn’t be a pick-and-choose situation.

Before you go, click here to see more photos of Prince William & Kate Middleton through the years.

Launch Gallery: All the Best Photos of Kate Middleton & Prince William at Wimbledon Over the Years

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