The second three-part installment of the Netflix docuseries Harry & Meghan hit the streaming platform late last week. And though these episodes offer a bit more juicy behind-the-scenes information than the first three (Prince William shouted at Prince Harry! And texted him after the Oprah interview!), which premiered December 8, the series overall has been criticized for being one-sided and a bit boring. Anyone who follows royal news likely didn’t get too much new information, but one fascinating thing this show did provide is a look inside the properties Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have called home the past few years, particularly their first pad as a couple.
Harry and Meghan were set up by a mutual friend, and the beginning of their relationship was long-distance, with him living in London and her still filming the show Suits in Toronto. In 2017, she moved into the London home where Harry had been living since 2013, Nottingham Cottage. This two-bedroom brick home sits on the grounds of Kensington Palace, which started out as a small country home and was transformed into a royal residence by King William III and Queen Mary II in 1689. They enlisted the architect Sir Christopher Wren to design their new palace, but, according to the Historic Royal Palaces website, Queen Mary was “excited by the project [and] took charge of [it] to transform this little house into a palace.”
Though Kensington Palace features all of the trappings one might expect, like a grand drawing room with red silk wall coverings covered in paintings with gilt frames and a painted ceiling, today those spaces are open to the public for tours. The living quarters of today’s royal family are simpler. As children, Princes William and Harry lived with their parents, King Charles and Princess Diana, in apartments 8 and 9 at Kensington. Today, apartment 1A is the London base of Prince William, Princess Kate, and their three children. Images of these dwellings are scarce, but the ones that have been released show none of the boldly colored silk damask and gold present in the public-facing areas of the palace. Diana decorated her place with interior designer Dudley Poplak in a decidedly English country style, with cream and light blue and plenty of delicate patterns on the walls and sofas. William and Kate have admitted to furnishing their children’s rooms with IKEA.