It’s not surprising that Prince William and Kate Middleton, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, live a pretty charmed life in London Town. They are royalty after all. And as modern-day royalty, Kate and William, who’s second in the line of succession to the British throne, enjoy all the luxuries that come with being a part of the royal family — lavish and exotic trips, private modes of transportation, and high-profile date nights. And as parents of three — Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis — they give their children the best education money can buy.
What is surprising is just how much time William and Kate dedicate to their royal duties. It seems as though they’re always jet-setting somewhere on official royal business, and hosting or attending a big charity gala. These royals may work hard, but they surely enjoy the fruits of their labor. And there is a whole lot to enjoy. Here’s just how insanely lavish Kate and William’s lives are.
William and Kate call Kensington Palace home: William and Kate may live in an apartment, but it’s far from your average unit, unless your apartment is four stories tall and has 20 rooms. Situated within the historic royal compound that’s known as Kensington Palace, Kate and William’s apartment features five reception rooms, multiple dressing rooms, and three bedrooms, Hello! reported. Fun fact: their apartment once belonged to Princess Margaret, the younger sister of Queen Elizabeth II.
The royal couple, who likes to keep their personal lives pretty private, shared a rare glimpse inside their lavish London home back in 2016, when they hosted former U.S. president Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle Obama. The power couples were photographed in the drawing room, a picture of elegance featuring traditional cream-colored sofas and artwork honoring a bygone era.During the holidays, William, Kate, and their children typically spend much of their time relaxing in their Norfolk country retreat, Anmer Hall.
William and Kate enjoy a family fortune: The British royal family is worth $88 billion as of 2017 (via Forbes), and, as Duke and Duchess, William and Kate enjoy the family fortune. The eldest son of Prince Charles and the late Princess Diana, Prince William is worth $30 million, according to Celebrity Net Worth. William, as well as younger brother Prince Harry, reportedly inherited “large sums of money from his mother, Princess Diana, and from his great-grandmother, the Queen Mother,” Harper’s Bazaar reported.
Kate Middleton wasn’t born a royal, but even before she married into William’s family, she had a small fortune of her own thanks to her family’s business Party Pieces (via Harper’s Bazaar). Now as Duchess of Cambridge, Kate has a reported net worth of at least $7 million, according to global wealth-tracking firm Wealth-X (via Money), though some estimates put her net worth as high as $10 million, according to Celebrity Net Worth. Being royal sure pays off.
William and Kate have enjoyed extravagant vacations: William and Kate somehow find the time for lavish vacations between all if their official royal trips. Before starting a family, this jet-setting duo enjoyed alone time in exotic destinations like Kenya, where Prince William proposed to Kate, and Seychelles, where, according to the Mirror, the newlyweds enjoyed their honeymoon.
 
Vacations look a little different now for the pair, who bring their children along for the adventure. Before welcoming Prince Louis into the world, the then-family of four enjoyed the winter wonderland of the French Alps in 2016, CNN reported. According to a Kensington Palace tweet, it was the first time their children played in the snow.
Now as a family of five, vacations are a little more low-key by royal standards. Following Louis’ birth in 2018, the family enjoyed a staycation at their country home of Anmer Hall, as the Observer reported. In an interview with the podcast Happy Mum, Happy Baby, Kate said that she wants to provide her children the luxury of the great outdoors. “I think it’s so great for physical wellbeing and also mental wellbeing,” she said.
Who could forget about William and Kate’s lavish royal wedding?: Many girls dream of their wedding day, but we doubt even Kate Middleton could have dreamed up such a lavish affair as a kid. The Duchess, who embodied a modern Cinderella on her wedding day, tied the knot with her Prince Charming, Prince William, in 2011. The event was televised and included a horse-drawn carriage and an iconic lace Alexander McQueen wedding dress, as noted by Hello! magazine. About 3 billion people across the globe tuned in to watch, according to The New York Times.
The Duke and Duchess tied the knot in a traditional ceremony at Westminster Abbey before traveling to Buckingham Palace for the rest of the festivities, as Hello! reported. The royal affair, touted as the “wedding of the century,” included famous faces like singer Elton John and power couple David and Victoria Beckham (via Inside Edition). No wedding day is complete without the bride and groom riding off into the sunset together, of course, and William and Kate rode off in a vintage Aston Martin Volante convertible. This is what fairytale dreams are made of.
William and Kate prioritize fashion: William and Kate are always the picture of elegance anytime they step out for a charity event or family gathering, as all eyes are almost always on them. But that elegance comes at a price. Kate may re-wear items from her closet and sometimes don affordable brands like H&M, but she’s no stranger to wearing lavishly expensive getups. For sister Pippa’s wedding in 2017, she wore a blush dress by Alexander McQueen, one of her favorite designers, and accessorized with a Jane Taylor hat.
That outfit totaled a little over $14,000, as Harper’s Bazaar reported. Also that year, Kate and William dressed to the nines as royal guests at the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) awards, where Kate wore a $10,000 black, floral-patterned gown.
When out on royal duties, this couple likes to color coordinate. On an official royal trip to Ireland in early 2020, Kate and William were spotted wearing green in honor of the country, Hola! reported. On their first day there, the Duchess had on an all-green dress and coat ensemble, and her hubby matched with a green tie. Couple goals!
William and Kate fly like the royal couple they are: As royalty, it’s William and Kate’s duty to travel to faraway lands to meet with fellow world leaders. But also as royalty, they have access to the finest modes of transportation. Sometimes they fly on a royal jet, while other times they do commercial — almost always British Airways and always first-class, as Hello! reported. It’s no surprise that the royal couple spends a small fortune on air travel. In 2012 alone, they reportedly spent $7 million. That’s a lot of travel miles.
Even their travel accessories are pretty lavish. Hello! reported that some of William’s luggage is adorned with the letter “W” and a crown. And if you think this couple travels in sweats, you are so wrong. Typically, they’re greeted by cameras as soon as they disembark a plane, so they’re always photo-ready, with Kate typically wearing a dress and her beau donning a suit or blazer.
William and Kate’s children get the best education: As the children of royalty, Prince George, who’s third in line to the British throne (via Biography), and younger sister Princess Charlotte have access to the best education money can buy. Both siblings attend Thomas’s Battersea, a private school situated in south London near the family’s residence in Kensington Palace, as reported by The Sun. This “elite London prep school” features a theater, gym, and ballet room (via The Sun) and offers “a rich and broad curriculum, with Art, Ballet, Drama, ICT, French, Music and PE all taught by specialist teachers from a child’s first day in school,” according to the school’s website.
This prestigious school comes at an insanely high price. According to The Sun, the yearly fee for Prince George alone is £19,287, or $23,681. A royal insider told The Sun that Prince George has had a few of his classmates over his Kensington Palace home, but, unlike traditional playdates, all house guests must be “security vetted.” These kids are royalty after all. And while there’s a lot of things people don’t know about William and Kate’s kids, most know that they must have high security around them!
William and Kate dine with the most famous guests: William and Kate wine and dine with some of the world’s most famous public figures, including America’s first family. In 2016, the British couple hosted a lavish dinner for then-president Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle, at their Kensington Palace apartment, E! News reported.
A couple of years later, in 2019, the Duke and Duchess held a state banquet for President Donald Trump and his wife, First Lady Melania, as Vanity Fair reported. The lavish affair included fine cuisine (halibut and lamb) and a collection of wines. A string orchestra served as the night’s entertainment. Kate Middleton looked like royalty, of course, wearing the Lover’s Knot tiara, and the multi-colored sash of the Royal Victorian Order, marking the first time she wore it since Queen Elizabeth II gave it to her on Kate and William’s eight-year wedding anniversary, according to People.
William and Kate’s date nights involve red carpets: For William and Kate, date night sometimes involves a glamorous red carpet. For several years, the two have attended the British Academy of Film and Television Art (BAFTA) Awards. In February 2020, for instance, Kate wowed cameras as she strutted down the carpet like a movie star in a white and gold Alexander McQueen gown, and, beside her, William looked equally as dapper in a bow tie and suit, as People reported. Kate’s lavish gown, which she previously wore at a Malaysian state dinner back in 2012, was topped off with a Van Cleef and Arpels necklace and earrings set worth more than $15,000.
Kate and William’s date nights typically involve the arts in one way or another. That same month, the royal parents walked the blue carpet for a charity performance of Dear Evan Hansen in London’s West End, as Hello! reported. This royal mom and dad know how to do date night right.
The cars William and Kate travel in are extravagant: When you’re William and Kate, there’s no limit to the amount of vehicles you can have. For high-profile royal affairs, they’ve been reportedly seen in a $300,000 Bentley car. This expensive piece of machinery boasts leather seats equipped with back massagers and a cooler for champagne bottles, the Daily Mail reported. Of course, seeing as the two are royal, the vehicle is made out of steel armor and has bulletproof windows for extra security.
Also according to the Daily Mail, the couple has “a fleet of leased Range Rovers.” William was photographed driving a Ranger Rover to pick up Kate at the hospital following Louis’ birth, as noted by Hello! magazine. Another popular car of theirs is an Audi estate, handy for picnics as the family watches dad play polo, Hello! reported.
Notably, when Prince William was younger, he had an affinity for motor biking. “I don’t know what it is about bikes, but I’ve always had a passion for motorbikes ever since I was very small,” he once said, as reported by Express. It’s safe to say those days are behind the father of three. Now it’s all about safety first.
William and Kate have prestigious royal titles: These royal highnesses have a lot of power and influence, as signified by their titles. William is a duke, a prince, and Lord High Commissioner to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, as announced in a Kensington Palace tweet. William may not be of Scottish descent like the role typically calls for, but many British royal members have served the position in the past. Ultimately, the decision was made by Queen Elizabeth II to have William serve to “maintain the relationship between the State and the Church,” according to the Palace website.
When Kate Middleton wed William, she became the Duchess of Cambridge. Of course, William is second in line to the throne, so, once he does become the king, Kate will likely be crowned Queen Consort, as Express noted. As such, Kate would have her own coronation and would be of equal social status to the King.
William and Kate have lavish Christmases
A royal Christmas is very much like that of common folk and typically includes church, gifts, and a festive lunch or dinner. Except the royals stay at a castle and they’re, well, royal, so anything they do is lavish by normal standards. On Christmas Day 2019, William, Kate, and their children accompanied the Queen for a church service at the historic St. Mary’s Magdalene before greeting citizens outside and enjoying a roast turkey lunch at the Queen’s Sandringham House, which is basically a castle, as noted by Hello! magazine.
Traditionally, the family exchanges gifts on Christmas Eve during teatime. In the Spirit of Christmas, the royal family, who has so much, gives back to those in need via initiatives like the Royal British Legion’s “Together at Christmas” initiative. In honor of the holiday, William and Kate release a Christmas card every year, and, in 2019, the family of five posed with a motorcycle and sidecar outside their Anmer Hall country retreat (via Good Housekeeping). How cute!
William and Kate enjoy some of the best cuisine in the world: Given William and Kate’s illustrious travel itinerary, it’s no surprise the two splurge on some of the world’s best cuisine. During their Canadian royal tour in 2016, the Duke and Duchess enjoyed local delicacies, such as geoduck (which is described as a “giant clam”), on a trip to a local food and wine festival, as the Daily Mail reported. Kate reportedly said (via Daily Mail), “It’s really unusual. I’ve never seen it before. It’s so fresh from the sea.” Like the real foodies they are, William and Kate also tried several other entrees at the event.
Another perk of being a royal is receiving invitations to gala dinners. During a charity event in 2016, William and Kate dined on a five-course meal cooked by Michelin-starred chefs, according to Express. The menu featured squid ink cracker with Morston smoked salmon and scallop ceviche. Surprisingly Kate shared that she cooks at home. She reportedly told the chefs during the gala event that “William has to put up with my cooking most of the time.” To which her hubby replied, “It’s the reason I’m so skinny.”
William and Kate attend some of the biggest sporting events : A super fan of tennis, Kate’s a season regular in the Royal Box at Wimbledon. In the past, she’s been spotted at the world-renowned tennis tournament with hubby William, sister Pippa, and sister-in-law Meghan Markle. Though Kate is often the picture of poise, she becomes just another spectator at Wimbledon, “chanting, cheering, oohing, [and] aahing,” as Vogue reported. In 2019, Kate and Meghan cheered on tennis star Serena Williams as she competed in the Wimbledon women’s singles final, according to Harper’s Bazaar.
William and Kate have also enjoyed world-class seats at the Commonwealth Games and at the 2012 London Olympics, where the two even served as official ambassadors. When this famous couple crossed the pond in 2014, they had an opportunity to catch an all-American game of basketball, where they met Cleveland Cavaliers star LeBron James, as ESPN reported. This sports-loving duo sure does get around.
