As wedding presents go, it’s certainly luxurious. When Prince William and were married back in 2011, the late Queen Elizabeth II did away with traditional gifts – though Kate known to be a fan of John Lewis – and instead offered the young couple a manor on her Sandringham Estate. In the years since Anmer Hall has become a beloved bolthole for the Wales family: from a permanent residence during Prince William’s pilot days to a rural retreat during lockdown.
Recently, the couple offered a glimpse into their home during a surprise congratulating Team GB on their success in the Olympics. While this royal retreat has become the epitome of rural elegance for decades, its story begins as a chapter in one of England’s most notorious sprees. Originally built as the Coldham family seat at the dawn of the 19th century, Anmer was bought at auction by Ernest Terah Hooley in 1896.
A notorious fraudster, Hooley had made a fortune by inflating the prices of businesses. He was twice arrested, and four times bankrupt, but this ill-gotten infamy didn’t deter Edward VII (then ) from buying Anmer off of the criminal. Rumour has it that the soon-to-be King was so keen to acquire the ownership of Anmer because he wanted to avoid some rather awkward neighbours.
Edward had recently implicated Hooley’s business associate, socialite Alexander Meyrick Broadley in the Cleveland Street Scandal, where many aristocrats (and, the story goes, ) were revealed as patrons of a homosexual brothel in . Broadley had been forced to leave the country, which would have made for a frosty reception had the Prince ever needed to borrow some sugar. The transaction was a success, and the country manor has been close to the royals ever since.
It was once loaned to John Loader Maffey, 1st Baron Rugby, governor-general of Sudan, whose daughter, Penelope Aiken, spent so much time on the Sandringham estate that she became a favourite of King George V. The pair would walk their spaniels around the grounds, and Penelope’s time at Anmer might have been key in her being named the ‘debutant of the year’ when she made her stunning first steps into high society. From 1972 to 1990, it was and the Duchess of who made Anmer Hall their home – but a young Prince William would have first become acquainted with the Georgian manor while visiting his close childhood friends the van Cutsems.
King Charles’ confidant, Hugh van Cutsem, would host Prince William and at Anmer, where the would while away the hours with William van Cutsem, who remains one of the Princes’ closest companions. So by the time the late Queen Elizabeth II allocated the manor to Prince and Kate Middleton (then the Duke and Duchess of ) the new royal groom would have been well-acquainted with its storied halls. Of course, the familiarity would only last so long: no sooner had William and Kate been gifted their new house than they began a million-pound renovation project, enlisting some of the royals’ most trusted designers to create a modern home for the next generation of royals.
Thought to be masterminded by Kate Middleton, the couple commissioned architect Charles Morris (previously trusted to work on Highgrove) to oversee the rebuild, which included a glass-roofed garden room and the planting of copious trees to offer the couple some privacy. The interiors were designed by Kate’s fellow history of scholar Ben Pentreath. According to , Pentreath’s aesthetic vision is inspired by the ‘great English practitioners of the 1960s and 1970s’ and from the antiques gracing the renovated rooms of the house, he clearly delivered on his characteristic vision at Anmer.
It is said that the then Duchess of Cambridge was keenly involved with the refurbishments of her new Norfolk home, having it in mind as base for what would soon become her young family. From assiduously writing up notes on royal train journeys after her meetings with Pentreath and Morris, to visiting local Norfolk shops with another designer, Anne Allen, the interiors of Anmer speak to Kate’s ‘contemporary classic’ design . Indeed, the modern touches of the newly renovated Anmer Hall were reported to have bemused Queen Elizabeth, who one royal biographer as saying: ‘It’s extraordinary that they all live in the kitchen – only one room!’ And over the years we’ve caught many a glimpse inside the Sandringham manor.
In recent years, Anmer has become a mainstay of weekends and family holidays, with many a royal Christmas card featuring the Georgian architecture of Anmer in the background. The Walses spent lockdown at the Norfolk home, seeking refuge in its verdant gardens and ten-bedroom interiors. From video calls and zoom meetings, the were granted unique insight into the royal home, from the ‘bold jewel green’ dining room to the dark red library.
Family portraits in gilt frames decorate the cream walls and antique furniture, while the neutral colour scheme is offset by ‘blue gingham armchairs and red patterned cushions’. To mark their 10th wedding anniversary, Prince William and Kate shared a touching family video, filmed in the gardens of Anmer Hall. Celebrated by branding expert Nick Ede for depicting the Wales's as ‘down to Earth country loving people who are a life of simple pleasures rather than over the top grandeur’, the video shows a young Prince George, , and running around the gardens of their family home, toasting marshmallows on bales and playing in the fields with their parents.
The family have been spending more time at Anmer recently, perhaps while the Princess of Wales recuperates from her chemotherapy treatment. She is known to keep chickens on the estate, visiting the henhouses each day to gather fresh eggs – and with an outdoor tennis court in the gardens, no doubt she will be practising her serves after an immensely successful trip to this summer. From scandalous origins to a beloved family home, Anmer Hall has been at the heart of the royal story for over a century, and as the Princess of Wales has reportedly shifted her priorities towards spending more time with her young children in the wake of her cancer diagnosis, it’s likely we’ll be seeing a lot more of this regal country pile.
.
