Do Prince William and Kate Middleton Sleep in the Same Bed?
Though it’s nobody’s business what goes on behind closed doors at the royal family’s lavish residences, we’re always curious what life is like for the royals. And what happens at night is just as interesting as what happens during daylight hours. Queen Elizabeth II and her husband, Prince Philip, reportedly sleep in separate beds. So do Prince William and Kate Middleton — a couple who will eventually sit on the British throne — have the same kind of arrangement?
Ahead, discover what we know about the bedroom of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. And find out why it wouldn’t be so unprecedented if they occasionally want some alone time at night.
Their ‘apartment’ has two master bedrooms
Prince William, Prince George, Kate Middleton, and Princess Charlotte | Andrew Chin/Getty Images
Prince William and Kate Middleton live in Kensington Palace’s Apartment 1A, a deceptively-named residence that encompasses four floors of living space. E! Online reports that there are two master bedrooms on the first floor of the Duke and Duchess’s apartment. But don’t jump to conclusions just yet.
The publication reports that despite the floorplan, “the duke and duchess are breaking with the tradition practiced by many former residents and sharing a bedroom.” The apartment’s former residents include Will’s aunt, Princess Margaret, who had it renovated in the 1960s.
William and Kate placed a special order for their bed
The Daily Mail reported in 2013 that after Prince William and Kate Middleton moved to London from Angelsey, Wales, where William was serving with the RAF, they missed the bed in the cottage they rented. So they tracked down the exact model from Healthbeds. After going through all that trouble, it seems pretty likely that both William and Kate would want to sleep in their new bed.
“The bed in question is called Natural Choice 4500 and boasts of ‘sumptuous cashmere, silk, cotton and wool fillings,’” The Daily Mail notes. One of the descendants of the company’s founder noted, “It’s an unusual order because the bed is bespoke and had to be enshrined in a four-poster setting.”
Separate bedrooms are a tradition among the upper class
Kate Middleton and Prince William | Mark Large-Pool/Getty Images
Sally Bedell Smith’s biography of Queen Elizabeth II reveals that the queen and her husband sleep in separate bedrooms in part because it’s a tradition among the British upper class — and in part because it’s a more practical arrangement than trying to sleep in the same bed. Plus, having separate bedrooms doesn’t rule out sharing occasionally.
The Daily Beast characterizes separate bedrooms — or even separate wings of large houses — as “a well-documented part of upper-class British life.” The publication adds that “separate rooms were certainly very common before World War II in any sizable house, even when the relationship was untroubled.” Even happily-married couples find many practical reasons to sleep separately, from divergent sleep schedules to incompatible temperature preferences.
William and Kate do have separate bathrooms
While Prince William and Kate Middleton may be breaking with royal tradition by sharing a bedroom, they do have separate bathrooms, according to Business Insider. That sounds like a luxury that many couples would enjoy having, whether they live in a palace or not.
Business Insider reported that at the time — William, Kate, and George moved into Apartment 1A in 2013 — that the residence had 20 rooms, including two nurseries, five reception rooms, “but only three bedrooms despite the fact the whole shebang is as long as your average city block.” Some of that space went, instead, to three kitchens, two for staff and one for the family. It seems likely that they’ve done some renovations to accommodate their growing family, but with just three bedrooms, it makes sense for William and Kate to share a bedroom.
They spend evenings watching TV together
Kate Middleton and Prince William aren’t like most people, considering that they live in a palace and are in line for the British throne. But Elle reports that the couple spends their evenings like many other tired parents: watching Game of Thrones or Homeland on the couch, enjoying a dinner of takeout food after they’ve put their children to bed.
But unlike the rest of us, William and Kate don’t have their food delivered straight to their door. “It doesn’t usually get ordered to the palace, to be honest, normally someone goes and picks it up,” William explained. When they call it a night, do they turn off the TV and retreat to the same bedroom? We don’t know for sure, but we’d like to think so.
Source: heatsheet com
