Nottingham Cottage

Nottingham Cottage (nicknamed "Nott Cott") is a house in the grounds of Kensington Palace in London.[1] As a grace-and-favour property, the house has been frequently occupied by members of the British royal family, as well as staff and employees.

Nottingham Cottage
Alternative namesNott Cott
General information
TypeHouse
Town or cityLondon
CountryEngland
Coordinates51°30′21″N 0°11′19″W
OwnerThe Crown
Technical details
Floor area1,324 square feet (123.0 m2)
Design and construction
ArchitectChristopher Wren

Design and location

Nottingham Cottage has two bedrooms and two reception rooms, with a bathroom and small garden. It is 1,324 square feet (123.0 m2) in size.[2][3] It stands near two other grace-and-favour houses, Kent Cottage and Wren Cottage.[4]

The house was designed by Christopher Wren. Its name derives from Nottingham House, the residence of the Earl of Nottingham from which Kensington Palace was expanded by William III and Mary II.[2]

Occupants

Nottingham Cottage has been occupied by several people who were formerly employees of the British royal family. Upon her retirement in 1948, the house was given for life to Marion Crawford, the former governess of Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret. In gratitude for Crawford's service, Queen Mary, the princesses' grandmother, decorated the house with Victorian furniture and prints of flowers for her. Crawford described the house as a dream "of seasoned red brick...with roses round the door". Crawford left the cottage in 1950 in the aftermath of her selling stories about the royal family to newspapers. Her departure from the cottage was made public knowledge by John Gordon, the editor and chief columnist of The Sunday Express, in the newspaper's Hardcastle column in an attempt to pressure her to provide more stories and articles to him.[5]

Before Crawford, Nottingham Cottage had been home to Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester, and his wife, Princess Alice.[6] Later occupants included Sir Miles Hunt-Davis (the Private Secretary of the Duke of Edinburgh) and his wife Anita, Lady Hunt-Davis, and Robert Fellowes (who served as Private Secretary to Queen Elizabeth II) and his wife Lady Jane Fellowes (sister of Diana, Princess of Wales).[2]

Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, lived at Nottingham Cottage for two and a half years after leaving Anglesey, where Prince William had been stationed as a helicopter pilot. The couple lived there with the infant Prince George for a few months after his birth, before moving in October 2013 to Apartment 1A in Kensington Palace. The ceilings of the home are very low, and Prince William had to stoop to avoid hitting his head on them.[2]

Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, the younger brother of Prince William, moved into the house following his brother's departure.[2][7] Harry proposed to Meghan Markle whilst roasting a chicken in the home.[8] After their wedding in May 2018, the couple continued to reside at the home until November.[9]

References
  1. "Inside Nottingham Cottage, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's new home". Woman & Home. 15 May 2018. Retrieved 18 May 2018.
  2. Victoria Ward (11 April 2018). "Nottingham Cottage: Meghan and Harry's cosy two-bed home in Kensington". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 18 May 2018.
  3. Leslie Carroll (5 January 2010). Notorious Royal Marriages: A Juicy Journey Through Nine Centuries of Dynasty, Destiny, and Desire. Penguin Books. pp. 456–. ISBN 978-1-101-15977-4.
  4. Paul Burrell (2007). The Way We Were: Remembering Diana. HarperCollins. ISBN 978-0-00-725263-3.
  5. Sarah Bradford (28 February 2002). Elizabeth: A Biography of Her Majesty the Queen. Penguin Books. p. 192. ISBN 978-0-141-93333-7.
  6. Kate Williams (historian) (10 May 2012). Young Elizabeth: The Making of our Queen. Orion Publishing Group. p. 136. ISBN 978-0-297-86782-1.
  7. Penny Junor (11 September 2014). Prince Harry: Brother. Soldier. Son. Husband. Hodder & Stoughton. p. 344. ISBN 978-1-4447-7794-9.
  8. Kim, Eun Kyung (27 November 2017). "Prince Harry proposed to Meghan Markle during 'cozy' night while roasting chicken". Today.com. Retrieved 4 September 2019.
  9. Sawer, Patrick (24 November 2018). "Duke and Duchess of Sussex to move to Frogmore House and begin family life". The Telegraph. Retrieved 8 May 2019 – via www.telegraph.co.uk.
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