A house earmarked as a country retreat for the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge is to undergo a series of improvements after the Queen’s officials secured planning consent.
Anmer Hall, a Grade II-listed Georgian 10-bedroom property two miles from Sandringham, the Queen’s Norfolk home, will be made more private and have its security upgraded.
Changes approved in private by officials at King’s Lynn and West Norfolk council include rerouting the driveway, extending a garage block to convert it into an equipment room and constructing a new garden room.
In addition, wood stores will be turned into accommodation — possibly for William and Kate’s royal protection officers. The proposals will see the gates moved further down the drive to keep the public at a distance. It is also believed there will be extensive planting of trees and shrubs.
William and Kate, who is five months pregnant, are thought to be keen to live in the house, not least because it is surrounded by the Queen’s 20,000-acre Sandringham estate, giving them maximum privacy.
It has an outdoor swimming pool and tennis court and will provide an alternative to their London base at Kensington Palace and their cottage in Anglesey.
