Inside Kate Middleton and Prince William's Massive Kensington Palace "Apartment": All the Details on Their Royal Abode!

Apartment 1A takes up half of the 17th century palace's Clock Tower wing and boasts nine bedrooms in four stories

By Natalie Finn, Melanie Bromley Oct 11, 2013 3:49 AMTags

If Prince William and Kate Middleton ever need some space, well...they've got space.

The couple and baby son Prince George have moved into their renovated quarters in Kensington Palace and, though their new residence is humbly referred to as Apartment 1-A, this is not your average abode.

Sources tell E! News that Will and Kate have four floors of living space to call their own, an expanse that takes up half of the palace's Clock Tower wing. The apartment used to belong to William's great-aunt, Princess Margaret, who had it restored in the swinging 1960s.

But now the palace's newest tenants, are bringing the property, designed by Sir Christopher Wren in the early 1600s for King William and Queen Mary, into the 21st century with updates such as WiFi and air conditioning.

And though there are two master bedrooms on the first floor, the duke and duchess are breaking with the tradition practiced by many former residents and sharing a bedroom.

George, meanwhile, will have two nurseries to his name, one for sleeping and one for playing, as well as a built-in playground in the form of the private walled garden that can be seen from all of 1-A's principal rooms.

There are also two living rooms, a kitchen, an elevator, a guest bedroom, three principal bathrooms, nine bedrooms on the top floor for staff and a basement level with a gym, laundry quarters and a luggage room.

There's a "wonderful, bright feel to the place," an insider who has visited rooms within the apartment tells E! News. "The entrance hall is beautiful with intricate cornicing and huge black and white flagstones. There are large open fireplaces in all the main entertaining rooms and lovely big windows overlooking the garden.

"It doesn't feel like a palace, more just a lovely townhouse, but there will be plenty of room for Prince George to run around. The rooms are vast and the garden is wonderful for a little boy."

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Kate, who was so excited about decorating her new home that she was still venturing out to shop while heavily pregnant, is looking to mix traditional antiques with modern furnishings. 

"Kate has taken a very personal role," our source says. "She has staff helping her, but she makes some of the calls herself and visited shops. She's very professional and organized" and "people enjoy dealing with her."

The Duchess of Cambridge is known to have settled on muted colors such as beige and light brown for curtains and upholstery and was seen picking out some heavy herringbone fabrics for the nursery at Bernard Thorp & Co. in London about a month before giving birth to George.

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