William and Catherine to move to Princess Diana’s palace

LONDON – Prince William and his wife Catherine are to make Kensington Palace, famously associated with the late princess Diana, their London residence, royal officials said on Sunday.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, whose April wedding was watched around the globe, are to move into the west London palace in mid- to late-2013, their St James’s Palace office said.

They will move into Apartment 1A – the former home of the late princess Margaret, Queen Elizabeth II’s sister. They will not be able to make the move for two years due to structural repairs needed.

The move represents a return for William, 29, to his childhood home – the palace was the main residence of the second in line to the throne and his brother Prince Harry, 27, until 1998.

Mourners left a sea of flowers and tributes at the gates of the 17th-century palace after the death of Diana, William’s mother, in a Paris car crash in 1997.

William and Catherine, also 29, are mainly based on the island of Anglesey in northwest Wales, where the prince is a Royal Air Force search and rescue helicopter pilot.

When in London, they already live within the Kensington Palace complex, at the small Nottingham Cottage. Harry will take over the cottage when the royal couple move into the palace proper.

The trio’s offices will also move with them from their current location at St James’s Palace. The queen and William’s father Prince Charles have approved the moves.

Anyone fancying a peek at William and Kate’s apartment has the chance to see a section of it, which is being used for a public exhibition until September 2012.

The rest of the apartment is currently used as offices, classrooms and for storage.

“The extent of the work needed to turn the apartment back into a home is not yet known,” St James’s Palace said in a statement, which added it was currently inhabitable.

Work was needed to remove asbestos as well as on the heating systems and electrics, it said.

It was last lived in by Margaret, who died in 2002. The last major renovation took place before she and her husband Antony Armstrong-Jones, the Earl of Snowdon, moved in in 1960 after their marriage.

William and Catherine will have plenty of royal company nearby, as three of the queen’s cousins, all grandsons of King George V, live at the palace.