ith numerous house moves over the past three decades, the royal family have inevitably occupied the same home as their royal relatives. The most recent example of this is Wood Farm. The Sandringham property, which is currently serving as Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s temporary home, not only housed his late father, Prince Philip, but also served as a secret getaway for Prince William and Princess Kate.
In the early stages of their relationship, it has been widely reported that Prince William and Princess Kate would escape the spotlight at the six-bedroom property. Their visits started in 2002, the year after they met and became friends at the University of St Andrews.
According to royal author Christopher Andersen in William and Kate: A Royal Love Story, “Kate was invited along with five other girls and nine boys to a shooting party at Sandringham. Will’s pals stayed put at Wood Farm, a six-bedroom ‘cottage’ on the estate grounds, while Papa was at the main house playing host to the Queen of Denmark.”
They supposedly returned on several occasions, including quietly ringing in the New Year and staying there for the royal family’s Sandringham Christmas celebrations in 2005. Historically, unmarried partners were not permitted to attend the private festive celebrations, so Kate made her debut in 2011, eight months after her royal wedding to Prince William.WATCH: A look back at the royal residences
Wood Farm’s history
Despite playing host to a budding royal romance, Wood Farm had a melancholy history. One of the cottage’s early inhabitants was Queen Mary’s son, Prince John, who moved to the property in 1916 as his epileptic seizures, which started at the age of four, began to worsen. Known as the ‘lost prince’, John was cared for by his governess, Charlotte ‘Lala’ Bill, and died in 1919 at the age of 13 in his sleep.
Following his death, the royals rented out the house for several years before repurposing it as a highly secluded guest cottage for visitors to the 20,000-acre estate. Famously, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson, stayed at the home in 1992 – the same year their marriage ended – so she could be near her daughters, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie, while being kept separate from the main Sandringham festivities.
Prince Philip later chose the farmhouse as his primary residence following his retirement from public duties in 2017, living there until the 2020 pandemic forced him to relocate to Windsor Castle, where he later died in 2021.
wood farm © AFP via Getty Images
Prince Philip previously lived at Wood Farm
