Who lives at Kensington Palace? The royals who call it home

Most royal palaces in London are either offices or museums. Kensington Palace is both, and something more: it is still a home. Behind the public state apartments lies a warren of private apartments, cottages and courtyards where members of the royal family live. Over three centuries the palace has been home to five monarchs, two future queens, a princess who became the most photographed woman in the world, and a crowd of royal cousins. Here’s who lives at Kensington Palace today, and who lived there before.

Who lives at Kensington Palace today

As of late 2026, these members of the royal family have homes at Kensington Palace:

• The Prince and Princess of Wales, who keep Apartment 1A as their London base. Their office is here too.
• Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank, at Ivy Cottage, with their two sons.
• The Duke of Kent, at Wren House.
• Prince and Princess Michael of Kent, in Apartment 10.
• The Duke and Duchess of Gloucester, in the Old Stables.

Royal living arrangements change often, and the royal household rarely comments on them, so treat this as a snapshot.

The Prince and Princess of Wales

Kensington Palace has been linked with Prince William all his life. He grew up here with his mother, Diana, and his brother, Harry, in Apartments 8 and 9. After his marriage to Catherine Middleton in 2011, the couple were given Apartment 1A, a four-storey, twenty-room apartment that had been Princess Margaret’s home for four decades. After a major refurbishment they moved in with Prince George in 2013, and Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis spent their early years here.

In 2022 the family moved to Adelaide Cottage in Windsor Home Park, to be near the children’s school. In autumn 2025 they moved again, to Forest Lodge, a larger house in Windsor Great Park. Kensington Palace remains their official London residence. Apartment 1A is their base when they’re in town, and their office still works from the palace. That’s why their announcements, social media accounts and press statements still come from “Kensington Palace”.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex also started their married life here, at Nottingham Cottage, a small cottage in the palace grounds. They left in 2019 for Frogmore Cottage in Windsor, before moving to California in 2020.

The other royal residents

Princess Eugenie

The younger daughter of Prince Andrew lives at Ivy Cottage, a cottage in the palace grounds, with her husband, Jack Brooksbank, and their sons, August and Ernest. The family also spends much of its time in Portugal, where Jack works.

The Duke of Kent

Prince Edward, Duke of Kent, a first cousin of Queen Elizabeth II, has lived at Wren House since 1978. His wife, Katharine, Duchess of Kent, died in September 2025.

Prince and Princess Michael of Kent

The Duke of Kent’s younger brother and his wife have lived in Apartment 10 since the 1970s. Neither has ever been a full-time working member of the royal family.

The Duke and Duchess of Gloucester

Prince Richard, Duke of Gloucester, another cousin of the late Queen, and his wife, Birgitte, lived for many years in Apartment 1, one of the largest in the palace. When their children grew up they moved to a smaller home, the Old Stables, within the palace grounds.

Famous residents of the past

Kensington has been a royal home since 1689. Long before Buckingham Palace became the monarch’s London home, it was the favourite home of five monarchs:

• William III and Mary II bought the house in 1689 and made it their main home. Both died here.
• Queen Anne built the Orangery and died here in 1714.
• George I built the grand state rooms.
• George II, the last reigning monarch to live here, died here in 1760.
• Queen Victoria was born here in 1819 and grew up here. She left for Buckingham Palace weeks after becoming queen in 1837.
• Queen Mary, grandmother of Elizabeth II, was born here in 1867.
• Princess Margaret, sister of Elizabeth II, lived in Apartment 1A from the early 1960s until her death in 2002.
• Diana, Princess of Wales lived here from 1981 until her death in 1997.

After George II died, the palace stopped being a monarch’s residence and became, in effect, a royal apartment block. It housed the king’s younger children, widowed princesses, royal cousins and, from the twentieth century, grace and favour residents. Our story of Kensington Palace in the twentieth century tells more.

Who owns Kensington Palace?

Kensington Palace belongs to the Crown. It isn’t the King’s private property, as Sandringham and Balmoral are; it’s one of the occupied royal palaces held by the monarch on behalf of the nation. The work of running it is split two ways. The Royal Household looks after the private apartments and the offices of the royal family, paid for through the Sovereign Grant. Historic Royal Palaces, an independent charity founded in 1998, cares for the state apartments and the gardens, and opens them to visitors. It receives no money from the government or the Crown, so the cost of looking after the public rooms is paid for by ticket sales, memberships, shops, cafés and donations.

That arrangement explains a lot about what you see. The charity can open the state apartments and the gardens, run exhibitions and charge for tickets. The private apartments, a few yards away, are a different world, maintained and guarded separately, and the residents come and go without visitors ever noticing.

How the palace is divided

The palace is built around a series of courtyards. The state apartments, the grand rooms of the Stuart and Georgian monarchs and Victoria’s childhood rooms, are on the eastern and southern sides. They are run by Historic Royal Palaces, an independent charity, and are open to the public. The private apartments fill the other wings and courtyards, mostly to the north and west, along with cottages such as Ivy Cottage, Nottingham Cottage and Wren House. Walls, gates and police protect them, and they are not visible from the public route.

Next to the palace runs Kensington Palace Gardens, a private road of embassies and mansions sometimes called Billionaires’ Row. Despite its name, nobody there lives in the palace. Read more in our guide to the area around the palace.

Can you see where they live?

Not up close. The private apartments aren’t open to visitors, and the royal residents use separate entrances. What you can do is see how earlier royals lived. A palace ticket takes you through the King’s State Apartments and the rooms where Victoria was born and brought up. See our guide to Kensington Palace tickets for prices this winter. You can also walk in the free palace gardens and the Sunken Garden, where the statue of Diana stands. The gilded gates on the south side, where the world left a sea of flowers in 1997, are free to see at any time.

For the full story with a guide, try a guided walk through royal Kensington with afternoon tea.

Questions people ask

Do William and Kate still live at Kensington Palace?

Kensington Palace is still their official London residence and office, and they keep Apartment 1A for their time in London. Since autumn 2025 their family home has been Forest Lodge in Windsor Great Park.

Who lives in Apartment 1A?

Apartment 1A belongs to the Prince and Princess of Wales. Before them it was the home of Princess Margaret, from the early 1960s until 2002.

Does the King live at Kensington Palace?

No. King Charles III lives at Clarence House when he’s in London. When he was Prince of Wales, he and Diana had their London home at Kensington, in Apartments 8 and 9.

Can you visit Kensington Palace?

Yes. The state apartments are open to visitors on most days, and the palace gardens are free.

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