Princess Kate will be able to select furniture from a vast warehouse on the Windsor Castle estate, nicknamed “California” because of its enormous size.
The storage facility, which was approved in 2019, is said to be bigger than any museum’s overspill space and houses surplus royal furniture, artworks, and gifts not considered valuable enough for the Royal Collection.
It was built on the site of former disused walled gardens near Frogmore Cottage.
The late Queen Elizabeth II applied for a new space the size of eight tennis courts to house royal items while Buckingham Palace undergoes its £369million refurbishment.
Princess Kate ‘doesn’t have to buy anything’ despite major house move
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The building is now being used to store a wide range of royal possessions, and it is from here that the Princess of Wales is understood to be sourcing pieces as her family prepares for their next move within Windsor.
Royal commentator Richard Kay said: “The Waleses are on the move yet again, and to the surprise of many, they have selected another home within Windsor Great Park.
“They’re not coming back to their fabulous Kensington Palace apartment, but they’re upscaling from little Adelaide Cottage to the much more impressive Forest Lodge.
“[It has] eight bedrooms, tennis courts, barrel dancefloor, all sorts of things. And she, the Princess, has indeed been looking for the appropriate furniture.
Forest Lodge when it was photographed in 2018 | GETTY“She hasn’t got to buy anything, of course she hasn’t, because the royals have, at Windsor Castle, an enormous storage unit known as California stores.
“It’s called California because it’s vast, like the state of California.”
Kay continued to tell the Mail’s Palace Confidential podcast: “I’m told it’s the most amazing place, bigger than any museum's overspill space, and from that, she is always said to choose a large dining table for the new home.”
According to Kay, many of the pieces housed in California are considered surplus to requirements but still serve a practical use in royal residences.
Forest Lodge covered in scaffolding | PALATEST ROYAL NEWS:
The fireplace at Forest Lodge | PAThe Prince and Princess of Wales originally moved to Windsor in 2022 from their Kensington Palace apartment to Adelaide Cottage.
They are now set to relocate to Forest Lodge, a property in Windsor Great Park with eight bedrooms, where they will pay market rent.
The California stores are regarded as one of the royal estate’s best-kept secrets, rarely discussed publicly despite their scale.
Kate’s ability to draw from the collection highlights how the facility continues to play a central role in furnishing royal homes.