Nottingham Cottage: the cosy two-bed in Kensington that will make Meghan and Harry's first home
Meghan Markle is to move in with Prince Harry at Nottingham Cottage, a snug, two-bedroomed property in the grounds of Kensington Palace.
The cottage was previously occupied by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, who used it as their London base for around two-and-a-half years.
Just a stone’s throw from Kensington Palace, Prince Harry’s childhood home, the cosy property, known by royal insiders as "Nott Cott," boasts two bedrooms, two reception rooms, a bathroom and a small garden.
The ceilings are said to be so low, the Duke of Cambridge had to “stoop” to avoid banging his head on them.
An ideal starter home for newlyweds, the property also provides fantastic access to the trendy shops, boutiques and spas on Kensington High Street with which Miss Markle, 36, is already familiar.
Having stayed with Prince Harry, 33, at the private, self-contained cottage whenever she has flown over from Toronto to visit him, she will already feel very much at home there.
Photographs of her former home in Toronto suggest that she favours a minimalistic, monochrome colour scheme with plenty of soft furnishings, coffee table books and floral arrangements.
She is likely to want to put her own mark on what has for four years, been a batchelor pad. The Duchess of Cambridge is said to have redecorated it to her own taste when she first moved in.
Nottingham Cottage is one of the smallest properties within the grounds of Kensington Palace and was formerly the home of the Duke of Edinburgh’s private secretary, Brigadier Sir Miles Hunt-Davis, and his wife Gay. Princess Diana's sister Lady Jane Fellowes and her husband Sir Robert Fellowes also lived there.
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The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge lived there, when in London from July 2011, moving in permanently when they left Anglesey.
It is where they took Prince George following his birth in July 2013 and spent their first few months as a family-of three before moving out that autumn.
Prince Harry moved in shortly afterwards and has lived there ever since. The first thing he reportedly did when was install a hammock in the yard.
It is not known whether he and Miss Markle will employ their own staff.
The Cambridges employed Italian housekeeper, Antonella Fresolone, who worked as a housemaid for the Queen for 13 years, to run their home when at Nottingham Cottage as well as in Anglesey.
Joining the happy couple though, will be Miss Markle’s two rescue dogs, Guy the beagle and Bogart the Labrador cross, in quarantine following their cross-Atlantic move from Toronto.
King William III and Queen Mary II bought Nottingham House from secretary of state Daniel Finch, the Earl of Nottingham, for £20,000 in 1689.
It was subsequently remodelled into the palace by Christopher Wren, the architect who designed St Paul's Cathedral.
Timeline Prince Harry and Meghan Markle
