Prince William and Kate to move into larger apartment at Kensington Palace

Prince William and Kate, Duchess of Cambridge attend a fundraising gala on Oct. 13, 2011, in London.

/ Clarence House via Getty

(CBS) Prince William and Kate have chosen a permanent home.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge will leave their small apartment at London's Kensington Palace for a larger abode on the grounds, which was last inhabited by the queen's sister, the late Princess Margaret.

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Palace officials announced on Sunday that the couple will not move in until mid-to-late 2013, because the apartment needs to undergo renovations. According to the Daily Mail, plumbing and electric work need to be done, along with removing asbestos.

Apartment 1A, as the flat is known, is currently managed by the charity Historic Royal Palaces and is being used as offices, classrooms and storage, the palace said. A public exhibition is taking place on the property through September 2012, after which it will be handed back to the royal household.

The four-story home reportedly boasts its own walled-in garden, along with staff quarters and a nursery.

William and Kate currently reportedly live in a two-bedroom apartment at Kensington Palace. Prince Harry is expected to move into that home when the couple relocates to the larger apartment.

The planned move was approved by Queen Elizabeth II and William's father, Prince Charles.

Before any of the royals change homes, their offices will be moved from St. James' Palace to Kensington Palace, allowing the staff to be closer to them. That move, officials say, will take place in mid-2012.

Royals have lived at Kensington Palace since 1689, when King William III purchased the mansion originally known as Nottingham House.

The princes both have strong ties to the palace - William and Harry lived in an apartment on the grounds from their births until 1998. Their mother, the late Princess Diana, also used the palace as her permanent residence until her death in 1997.

37 Photos

Prince William and Kate

[kimmyj43]

A 4-story "apartment"????? sheesh!!!

[sarahphillip]

Workingclass is what william is demoted to not power future to royality..

[sarahphillip]

Here the REAL ISSUE SHE AND WILLIAM HAVE A FARM HOUSE TO BE WORKINGCLASS COUPLE .NOT A ROYAL ESTATE LIKE CAMILLA AND CHARLES workingclass home..THE ROYAL ESTATES ARE THE QUEEN OF ENGLAND'S AND NOT WORKINGCLASS HOPE TO ENTIRE APON.Katherine Middleton is workingclass and consort to william not a princess or queen to be in the future.Base on who Katherine Middleton idenity ...Will dictate how she will be dictated to ,she is not the next monarchy power figure.She workingclass who married monarchy .They together will live off what william makes in life not be given royal homes and setup,to furnished their hopes of ruling.Notice all consorts do not have lavish homes of monarchy and dress workingclass material not royal high top position like Hrh Princess Diana had.Despite HRH Diana Princess of Wales first dress.She had money style not Katherine Middleton keeping appearances to elude..Same for demark royal family the shuwn from the royal power elite because of workingclass mates,even their children will not bear a royal title to maintain in the royal circle....Sadly demark queen is to be punished unless defined in standards of requirement toward why she gave the illterm for workingclass mate the titles and for their workingclass children.IT'S NOT ALLOWED,She can be dethrone and remove from position because she failed to obey royal laws of titles and positions to birth born monarchy and the mates they marry..Only born full blooded monarchy can wear the crown to maintain thier monarchy mates into the royal family.It's not so bad when william and Katherine Middleton get their workingclass home setup for hardlife as workingclasswealth.They will finally understand what it takes to be married in the world.....

[formerusmcsgt1]

I see a whole new line of drivel stories coming from this:

Kate and William decide to change out a commode

Kate and William buy houseplants

Kate and William order a new dishwasher

Sheesh.

[debbie1120]

Let's also remember that Kate was a, what do they call it, commoner. This wasn't an arranged marriage. I truly believe they love each other very much.

[Jaylah54]

It's interesting to see the photos of William and Kate, versus William's parents.

I do tend to think some folks go way overboard in attempting to decipher "body-language" in photos, but....

In virtually every photo you see of William and Kate together, candid or posed, William seems to be "leaning toward" his wife in some way. In this photo, he's got his head leaning, just a tiny bit, toward Kate.

In most of the photos of Charles and Diana, Charles seemed quite distant from his wife.


Of course, to be fair, William and Kate knew each other for *much* longer than Charles and Diana. They dated for years, rather than the dozen (at most) actual dates Charles and Diana went on before their engagement was announced. It's clear to see that William and Kate's marriage wasn't just a dynastic marriage the way William's parents was.