The late Queen reportedly "politely but firmly" rejected a request from Prince Harry and Meghan Markle to live within Windsor Castle following their marriage. They were instead given the nearby Frogmore Cottage as a wedding gift.
The castle and its surrounding ground has been home to the Royal Family for almost 1,000 years. The late Queen and Prince Phillip lived there most of the time, and the estate also includes the homes of the Prince and Princess of Wales, and Prince Andrew and his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson.
As well as the castle itself, there are various properties, including huge mansions and cosier cottages. The Queen gifted these homes to her loved ones over the years, according to The Mirror.
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The stunning Frogmore Cottage was given to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle after their wedding in 2018. However, before this they reportedly requested a different property, inside the castle itself, the Times reports.
According to a source, the monarch deemed this request "inappropriate" and "firmly" rejected it. At the time, the Queen and Prince Philip had private apartments within the castle, but other royals lived elsewhere on the estate.
The Queen reportedly saw the offer of Frogmore Cottage as a "big deal" and hoped Harry and Meghan would "respect" her generosity, according to claims made by the late Lady Elizabeth Anson in royal expert Katie Nicholl's book The New Royals.
Lady Elizabeth, who died in 2020, is quoted as saying: "The cottage was a big deal. The Queen's entrance into the gardens is right next to their cottage. It is essentially her back yard, her solitude, and her privacy.
"She was giving that up in gifting Harry and Meghan Frogmore Cottage. We all thought it was very big of her. She said, 'I hope they'll respect it'."
Before Frogmore Cottage was decided on, various other properties on the estate were also considered, including Adelaide Cottage, where The Prince and Princess of Wales now live with their children. They moved from there from London at the end of the summer with their kids Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis.
Adelaide Cottage was built in 1831 in the heart of the Crown Estate's private 655-acre royal park, as a retreat for William IV's wife Queen Adelaide. It was also a favourite home of Queen Victoria, who enjoyed taking her breakfast there.
However, the cottage is perhaps most famous for having been home to Princess Margaret's love interest, Group Captain Peter Townsend. The former RAF pilot and later an equerry to King George VI embarked on a famous love affair with Princess Margaret, which was controversial at the time given that Townsend was a divorced man and was 16 years older than her.
The cottage was renovated in 2015 and now has some very elaborate decorations. The master bedroom reportedly has a ceiling covered with gilded dolphins and a rope decoration.
Many royal dignitaries have also stayed there, including Simon Rhodes, the son of the late Queen's first cousin Margaret Rhodes, who served as Lady in Waiting to The Queen Mother. The monarch helped Rhodes reunite with his family to the UK from their home in Zimbabwe after they had to escape violence in the country.
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