A Royal expert has admitted that he telephoned one of the late Queen’s tenants on the Sandringham Estate to deliver the unwelcome news that they were about to be evicted to make way for Prince William and Kate Middleton.
Veteran Royal correspondent Richard Eden revealed on the Daily Mail Royals podcast how breaking the bombshell news was amongst his “favourite stories”.
“We got wind that Queen Elizabeth was going to be giving a new house to William and Catherine as, I think, a belated wedding gift,” he recalled. However, the problem was that the new residence chosen for the Royal couple – Anmer Hall – already had sitting tenants.
James Everett, proprietor of timber kitchen firm Norfolk Oak, had relocated with his family into the 10-bedroom Georgian country estate in the early 2000s, holding a lease running until 2017, though one of the lease stipulations was that it could be ended at short notice if the property was required by a member of the Royal family.
Richard remembered: “I remember ringing up the the the man whose family they were living at this house and said, ‘Actually we’ve heard that your house is about to be given to William and Catherine.’ I’ll be honest with you, he wasn’t that happy.”
Richard added that the Everetts had “loved” living in Anmer Hall, but reluctantly relocated: “They moved to another property, and I think, in the end, they were they were perfectly happy.”
Anmer Hall boasts a lengthy, and occasionally controversial Royal past.
It’s believed to be the location where the King, then Prince Charles, conducted secret rendezvous with Camilla Parker Bowles whilst married to Princess Diana.
The private countryside retreat, which was being leased by Charles’s dear friend Hugh van Cutsem at the time, reportedly offered the ideal venue for the pair to meet discreetly, shielded from palace personnel and photographers’ cameras.
A Royal source, who recalls the duo utilising the residence, claimed to the Express: “Hugh van Cutsem is one of the prince’s oldest friends. There weren’t many people he could trust at the time but Hugh was certainly one of them.
“Meeting Camilla in London was far too risky. Because Anmer Hall was on the Sandringham estate, it didn’t look odd for the prince to be up there.”
Prince William also maintained strong ties to the residence, well before ultimately relocating there with his spouse in 2015.
He and Harry developed friendships with Hugh van Cutsem’s four boys during their youth, frequently visiting Anmer.
William formed a particularly close bond with Edward, Hugh’s eldest child and fellow Ludgrove student, who joined him on his inaugural Antipodean journey.
The property that the Royal pair eventually inhabited differed significantly from the family residence he recalled.
A £1.5 million renovation project was implemented, funded through private Royal family resources. The Duke and Duchess have carried out extensive renovations, including a new roof, kitchen, the addition of a conservatory, complete internal redecoration; and an extensive tree-planting programme to provide more privacy.
However, Anmer Hall is no longer their main residence. Following a challenging 18 months marked by the Princess’s cancer battle, the Royal couple have opted to relocate to a more secluded home at Forest Lodge in Windsor Great Park.
