Kate Middleton’s childhood home—a closer look at the idyllic country house where the Duchess grew up

Long before  Kate Middleton  moved into Kensington Palace, the Duchess of Cambridge grew up in Bucklebury, Berkshire. While  Prince William ’s wife no longer resides at the country home, her parents  Carole  and Michael Middleton do, and royal fans have gotten a rare inside look at Kate’s idyllic childhood home. The royal’s younger brother  James Middleton  shared a video from the family home, where he is currently isolating with fiancée Alizee Thevenet.

In the video shared on May 11, James is seen sitting in a truck outdoors shaving his beard. As he went to surprise his future wife with his new look, James filmed Alizee and his parents sitting at a table enjoying wine outside the brick home. The Middleton’s green sprawling backyard features various flower displays, while inside, a wall appears to be decorated with numerous framed photos.

© James Middleton

Pippa Middleton and James Matthews’ wedding reception was held in the backyard of the Middleton home back in 2017. Kate has opened up in the past about her happy childhood and spending time outdoors. “I had a very happy childhood. It was great fun and I’m very lucky I come from a very strong family. My parents were hugely dedicated. I really appreciate now as a parent how much they sacrificed for us,” the Duchess said on the Happy Mum, Happy Baby podcast earlier this year.

She added, “As children, we spent a lot of time outside and it’s something I’m really passionate about. I think it’s so great for physical and mental well-being and laying those foundations. It’s such a great environment to actually spend time in, building those quality relationships without the distractions of ‘I’ve got to cook’ and ‘I’ve got to do this.’ And actually, it’s so simple.”

While the Cambridges have been self-isolating at their country home, Anmer Hall, away from the Middletons and Prince Charles, Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis’ grandparents have been keeping in touch via video chat amid the COVID-19 pandemic. “I think your father and my parents and our families and things like that have really loved keeping in touch with the children, because they know it’s really hard,” the Duchess told BBC.

Because of the UK lockdown, the Cambridges have been utilizing FaceTime a lot more often than they used to. Kate admitted to ITV’s   This morning , “We hadn’t done a huge amount of FaceTime and face calls and things like that, but obviously we’re doing that a lot more now, and actually it’s been really great.” She continued, “We try and check in daily with family members and speak to them about news and things like that, and in some ways I suppose we’ve got a lot more face time than perhaps we would have done before.”