Kate Middleton Renovation Upsetting Queen Elizabeth? Royal Not Pleased With 'Excessive Spending'
Is Queen Elizabeth disappointed with granddaughter-in-law Kate Middleton's "excessive spending" on her country estate in Noforlk? New reports suggest that Middleton may have outdone herself and the royal standards putting together Anmer Hall, where the royal couple may move to.
"The Queen is famously careful about not being flashy," a source told Life & Style. "She's shocked about Kate's overspending. She thinks it doesn't make Kate or the royals look good to be splashing out millions on redecoration."
Kate and William already have a refurbished home in Kensington Palace; renovations there cost upwards of $6 million. While a great deal of that was paid by taxpayers, the royal family helped out with decorations inside the home. Prince Charles remarked that it was perfectly normal for family members to help one another out whenever possible.
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"Many young couples when doing up houses seek help from their parents or grandparents," a spokesman from Clarence House (Charles' home) said. "There may have been some assistance."
The couple recently added a second kitchen at Kensington Palace but insisted on paying for it themselves since it was a luxury rather than a necessity.
"The Cambridges were extremely sensitive to the fact that public funds were being used to pay for a lot of this work," an aide to the royals told Daily Mail. "They understood that it would be a drain on public expenditure and they wanted to minimize that. It is not done out to lavish standards. You would be surprised at what an ordinary level the apartment has been done to. Comfortable, but an ordinary level of furnishing."
However, there has been much discussion about whether Kate and William will be moving to Anmer Hall in Nofolk, depending on what William chooses to do next with his life. The estate would certainly give them more privacy and allow them to be a more "normal" family.
"The Queen feels it's important for William, Kate and George to be based in London, but Kate is completely going against her wishes," the source noted.
