Anmer Hall

Anmer Hall is a Georgian country house in the village of Anmer in Norfolk, England. Built in the 19th century, it was acquired by the monarch’s Sandringham Estate after Queen Victoria purchased the property, and has previously been leased to business owners, civil servants, and members of the British royal family. It is currently the country residence of the Prince and Princess of Wales, having been given to the couple as a wedding gift by Queen Elizabeth II in 2011 as a “countryside bolthole”.

History of Anmer Hall

Constructed in 1802, Anmer Hall was originally the seat of the Coldham family, but was bought at auction in 1896 for £25,000 by famed serial fraudster Ernest Terah Hooley before his first bankruptcy. The future King Edward VII had attempted to purchase the property prior to Hooley’s acquisition, and ultimately bought the property from him at cost in 1898, after which it became part of the Sandringham Estate.

Anmer Hall was then leased to John Loader Maffey, 1st Baron Rugby who served as Governor-General of Sudan and held diplomatic posts in the Colonial Office. His daughter, Penelope Aitken, socialised with the Royal Family there.  From 1972-1990, Anmer Hall was leased to the Duke and Duchess of Kent as their country house.

It was subsequently rented for the next decade by Hugh van Cutsem, a close university friend of King Charles III, during which time the house was often visited by Prince William and Prince Harry when they were children. (Van Cutsem Snr’s sons, William and Nicholas, are now godfather to Prince George and Prince Louis respectively.) The house was then leased to the family of James Everett, owner of the Norfolk Oak kitchen timber company, but this lease was later terminated once Anmer Hall was allocated for the then Duke and Duchess of Cambridge as a wedding gift from Queen Elizabeth II in 2011. It is situated just two miles from the monarch’s Sandringham home.

The couple spent £1.5 million pounds refurbishing the Georgian mansion (paid for by private royal family funds) with renovations including a new roof, new kitchen, the addition of a conservatory, a complete internal redecoration and an extensive tree-planting programme to provide more privacy. Following Princess Charlotte’s birth in 2015, the Cambridge’s took up full-time residence at Amner Hall while William focused on his family and flying career with East Anglian Air Ambulance.

Anmer Hall today

Today, Anmer Hall continues to be Prince William, Princess Kate and their three children’s private country home, and the family reportedly spend many weekends, school holidays and Christmas there. The family spent most of the national lockdowns during the Covid pandemic at Amner, homeschooling their children and continuing to conduct royal engagements via video calls.

Anmer Hall has 10 bedrooms, and reportedly also has a swimming pool, private tennis court, chicken coop and beekeeping area.

Getting to Anmer Hall

Anmer Hall is located about 110 miles north of London in Norfolk. It is a private royal residence and as such does not host visitors.