Who Lives Where in Kensington Palace: Inside the Royals’ Variety of Residences

Kensington Palace, one of Britain’s oldest royal residences still in use, remains home to a number of senior royals and a veritable village of connected properties on the palace grounds. While Buckingham Palace often dominates the royal spotlight, Kensington’s estate includes multiple stand‑alone dwellings—apartments, cottages and even a stables—each with its own history and current resident. The site’s long arc stretches back to 1689, when William III bought the original Nottingham House and began transforming it into the palace that stands today. Monarchs lived here for decades, and while the attraction of central London persists, Kensington has remained a practical and symbolic home for generations of royals. The characterization of Kensington as the monarchy’s most beloved residence faded as tastes and needs evolved, but its centrality, expansive grounds and the variety of dwellings kept it in use as a living space for the next generations of the royal family. Today, a mix of working royals and senior members of the family call Kensington Palace home, with some properties used primarily for official duties and others as family residences.

Apartment 1A remains the prize address for the Prince and Princess of Wales, though the couple is slated to move to the Forest Lodge, a Grade II‑listed residence on the same grounds, later this year. For now, William and Kate retain use of the four‑story, 300‑year‑old suite, which includes multiple reception rooms, staff bedrooms and a gym. The interior design was led by Ben Pentreath, who has crafted spaces for other high‑profile clients, and the walls are lined with family photographs that trace a modern royal narrative through the generations. The Waleses’ residence has hosted state guests and domestic moments alike: Barack and Michelle Obama appeared there in 2016, and during the pandemic the couple conducted some official business remotely from the palace, offering a rare glimpse into their private quarters. The family’s 2022 move out was widely reported as a move to give Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis a more average upbringing, even as the palace continued to serve their official needs.

Beyond 1A, the campus includes Wren House to the north, home to the Duke of Kent. The five‑bedroom residence, with five reception rooms and views over the palace’s walled garden, carries a name tied to the palace’s designer, Sir Christopher Wren. Wren House has appeared in royal video clips and birthday tributes and remains a private family retreat for Prince Edward and the late Duchess of Kent, Katharine Worsley, whose passing earlier this month closed a long chapter in the property’s history. The dwelling’s position and size make it a quiet counterpoint to the palace’s more central apartments, offering a vantage point on the estate while remaining firmly within the royal residence network.

Ivy Cottage, a smaller but picturesque three‑bedroom property on the grounds, is the home of Princess Eugenie and her husband Jack Brooksbank and their two sons, August and Ernest. The cottage is noted for its rose‑bushed doorway and a well‑kept garden, giving Eugenie’s family a more intimate, family‑centered home within the palace complex. The couple’s schedule is global, with Costa Terra Golf and Ocean Club work in Portugal forming a notable element of their lives, but Ivy Cottage remains a cornerstone of their Kensington residence, reflecting a blend of public duties and private family moments.

Inside the main palace, Apartment 10 has long been tied to the Duke and Duchess of Kent. Prince Michael and Princess Marie Christine von Reibnitz have occupied the space for four decades. The apartment’s five bedrooms and five reception rooms occupy three floors, and the unit’s history intersects with royal architecture—the Georgian design legacy by William Kent remains evident in period details like an eagle console table. The Kent family’s story at Kensington has included earlier debates about its cost of occupancy; in 2002 it was revealed they paid a relatively modest stipend, a figure that has grown substantially in subsequent years as the palace adapted to modern budgeting and duty expectations.

The Duke and Duchess of Gloucester reside in the Old Stables, a property that was renovated for a £1 million upgrade and separated from the main amenities to provide a private retreat toward the back of the grounds. Since 2019, Prince Richard and Birgitte van Deurs have lived there after more than four decades in Apartment 1, a larger, more center‑set residence. The Old Stables nightlife and performance culture echo the palace’s broader ceremonial life, and the couple’s residence marks Kensington Palace’s evolving use of its property portfolio to accommodate various needs and privacy levels for different members of the royal family.

Nottingham Cottage, a modest two‑bedroom home adjacent to the main palace, became a focal point in the Sussexes’ tenure as working royals. Prince Harry and Meghan Markle lived there briefly before moving to Frogmore Cottage at Windsor Castle. Nottingham Cottage offered access to the broader palace ecosystem while keeping daily life comparatively contained. In public discourse surrounding their time there, some reports described the cottage as modest relative to the other suites—an assessment that has fed into ongoing discussions about expectations and accommodations for royal families in modern times. In interviews and subsequent media, the couple’s reflections on their Kensington years have been aired in documentaries and books that chart their trajectory from working royals to stepping back from official duties.

The palace’s other historically significant units include Apartments 8 and 9, originally built for King George I’s mistress, the Duchess of Kendal. After Charles and Diana’s 1981 marriage, the couple moved into these apartments, which sit opposite 1A and near Ivy Cottage. Diana developed a fondness for KP that endured through her marriage and into the subsequent years of separation and divorce, and the space remained her primary residence until her death in 1997. Since then, 8 and 9 have largely functioned as office space and back‑stage rooms for charities and official events, ensuring that Kensington Palace continues to serve both as a private home and a public stage for royal work.

The apartment once known as 1A has its own storied chapter: Princess Margaret and her husband, Antony Armstrong‑Jones, lived there from 1963 following their wedding and through Margaret’s widowhood until her death in 2002. The late queen gifted the apartment to the couple after their wedding, and it underwent a £1.7 million renovation in the early 1960s. Margaret’s time in 1A is emblematic of how KP has functioned as a rotating stage for different generations of the royal family, with the space passing through different hands as the monarchy evolves.

Taken together, Kensington Palace’s mosaic of residences illustrates the modern royal family’s balancing act between ceremonial duties and private life. William and Kate’s pending Forest Lodge move signals a shift in how the next generation will use the palace’s resources, though 1A will likely continue to anchor the couple’s official engagements. The broader palace ecosystem remains active: not only as a home for royals but as a living archive of the monarchy’s ongoing narrative, where historic rooms, contemporary needs, and family life intersect against a backdrop of central London history.