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A Guide to the Duke and Duchess of Kent’s Royal Estates

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On Friday, Buckingham Palace announced that Katherine, Duchess of Kent passed away peacefully at the age of 92, per the BBC. She was the oldest member of the British Royal Family, which she married into in 1961 when she wed Prince Edward, Duke of Kent. The Duke is a grandson of King George V and a second cousin of the current monarch, King Charles III.

duke and duchess of kent

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The Duke and Duchess of Kent.

During their 64 years of marriage, the Duke and Duchess of Kent—who have three children together—lived in many royal residences, starting with Coppins, a 19th-century country house in Buckinghamshire, England. Their official home at the time of her death was Kensington Palace in London, where they lived in Wren House. During one stretch, the pair also resided in Amner Hall, which now serves as the country estate of Prince William and Kate Middleton.

Below, take a look at the stately residences the pair called home over the years.

duke of kent celebrates 89th birthday

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Prince Michael of Kent and Prince Edward, Duke of Kent, watch three pipers from the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards play outside Wren House, Kensington Palace to mark Prince Edward’s 89th birthday.

Wren House, Kensington Palace

London, England

Designed by acclaimed architect Christoper Wren, Wren House is one of the private residences on the grounds of Kensington Palace and served as the main home for the Duke and Duchess of Kent starting in 1997. The two-story, five-bedroom dwelling has a traditional brick exterior, sash windows, and a white-picket fence. The Duchess of Kent died at Kensington Palace on Thursday evening.

'st. james's palace, london', c1910, (1910). artist

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St. James’s Palace, where York House is located.

York House, St James’s Palace

London, England

Completed in the 1730s for Frederick, Prince of Wales, York House is a Georgian wing attached to St. James’s Palace in London. It served as the residence of several royals including King George V and King Edward VIII. The Kents used the estate as their base in London starting in the early 1970s through 1997, when the couple relocated to Wren House at Kensington Palace.

general views of anmer hall

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A general view of the front of Anmer Hall on the Sandringham Estate.

Anmer Hall, Sandringham Estate

Norfolk, England

The couple used Amner Hall, a ten-bedroom Georgian manor, as a country home between between the 1972 and 1990. In his book, A Royal Life, the Duke discussed his regrets about leaving the stately Norfolk property, which is located on the grounds of the royal Sandringham estate. The Duke claimed the estate was “too big” for the pair. In 2011, Queen Elizabeth gifted Prince William and Kate Middleton the home after their wedding, and the couple used the estate alternately as a country retreat and a full-time home for their young family. They also oversaw a $2 million renovation by designer Ben Pentreath and architect Charles Morris.

coppins, buckinghamshire

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Coppins, a mid-nineteenth-century farmhouse built by John Mitchell, north of the village of Iver in Buckinghamshire, England, circa 1955.

Coppíns, Iver

Buckinghamshire, England

After their 1961 wedding, the Duke and Duchess of Kent moved into Coppins, a 19th-century farmhouse built by John Mitchell. They lived here until 1972, when they moved to York House at St. James’s Palace. Formerly the home of Princess Victoria, the estate was left to Prince George, Duke of Kent, and was the home of two generations of the Kent family.

crocker end house

Tim Graham//Getty Images

The Crocker End House.

Crocker End House, Nettlebed

Oxfordshire, England

After leaving Amner Hall, the couple used Crocker End House in the Oxfordshire countryside as a retreat. Built in the mid-19th century, the Victorian Gothic Revival manor features steep gables, pointed windows, and sits within roughly 30 acres of woodland.

cottage old forge in oxfordshire

Graham Horn/Wikimedia Commons

Part of The Old Forge, Brightwell Baldwin, Oxfordshire, seen from the southeast.

The Old Forge, Brightwell Baldwin

Oxfordshire, England

In 2002, the Duchess of Kent purchased the Old Forge in the Oxfordshire village of Brightwell Baldwin. She reportedly paid £540,000 for the three-bedroom, Grade II-listed estate, a former metal workshop. The Duke and Duchess spearheaded a renovation to modernize the property, which they sold in 2017.

Headshot of Geoffrey Montes

Geoffrey Montes is an associate editor at ELLE Decor with a serious love for all things real estate and design. Before that, he worked at Architectural Digest, Galerie, and Preservation magazines, covering everything from jaw-dropping listings to world-famous architects and design events like Salone del Mobile and Homo Faber.

LP Staff Writers

Writers at Lord’s Press come from a range of professional backgrounds, including history, diplomacy, heraldry, and public administration. Many publish anonymously or under initials—a practice that reflects the publication’s long-standing emphasis on discretion and editorial objectivity. While they bring expertise in European nobility, protocol, and archival research, their role is not to opine, but to document. Their focus remains on accuracy, historical integrity, and the preservation of events and individuals whose significance might otherwise go unrecorded.

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