Culture

Prince William, Kate Leave Kensington Palace for Anmer Hall

Prince William and Kate, Duchess of Cambridge and their newborn baby princess, pose for the media as they leave St. Mary's Hospital's exclusive Lindo Wing, London, May 2, 2015. | A general view of the front of Anmer Hall on the Sandringham Estate, Jan. 13, 2013, in King's Lynn, England.
AP Photo | Getty Images

May 06, 2015, 2:44 PM

 -- Princess Charlotte has left the palace, Kensington Palace that is.

Four days after her birth, the newborn daughter of Prince William and Duchess Kate is off to Anmer Hall with her parents and older brother, Prince George.

Prince William, 32, and Kate, 33, were photographed driving from Kensington Palace today to head to Anmer Hall, their 10-bedroom home on the queen’s Sandringham Estate in Norfolk, England.

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William was photographed in the driver’s seat in a checkered, Oxford-style shirt while Duchess Kate was seen in the passenger seat wearing pearl earrings and a Brisa cashmere scarf made by one of her favorite, go-to U.K. designers, Beulah, around her neck.

Anmer Hall is around 115 miles from Kensington Palace on the Queen’s Sandringham estate, in a quiet, small town atmosphere that William and Kate intend to settle for the first few months of the princess’s life.

There's a huge amount of private space there," royal commentator and writer Roya Nikkhah told ABC News recently. "There's an enormous garden. There's tennis, there's swimming, but all in one place.”

“They don't have to get protection officers to take them from one bit to the other as they do in London,” Nikkhah said.

The couple spent nearly $2.5 million to renovate the property, including a conservatory, a new kitchen and a new roof. Kate has been seen at the local shops even bargaining for a discount as she decorates the mansion so she and William can call it home.

The 10-bedroom home has plenty of space for William and Kate to welcome relatives, including Kate’s Middleton clan, who want to be a part of George and the new baby’s upbringing. William and Kate spent Christmas at the home alongside family and Anmer Hall is where William and his brother, Prince Harry, vacationed as children.

Princess Charlotte spent her first night of life at Kensington Palace, where Kate and William brought her 10 hours after her birth. It was in the family’s apartment 1A at the Palace that Charlotte was introduced to her relatives, including Kate’s parents, James and Carole Middleton, her sister, Pippa Middleton, and William’s side of the family, Prince Charles and his wife, Camilla, and the baby’s great-grandmother, Queen Elizabeth.

Just before the family left today, Prince Charles made a second visit to see his baby granddaughter, whose name, Charlotte, comes in part from his own. The Prince of Wales has long expressed his desire for a granddaughter and finally got his wish,

Setting up base at Anmer Hall also provides the young family a chance to support Prince William's new career as an air ambulance helicopter pilot with the East Anglian Air Ambulance service, located quite close to Anmer Hall. William is on a two-week paternity leave from the job.

The Duchess of Cambridge is expected to spend most of the summer at Anmer Hall. After the birth of Prince George, Kate returned to official royal engagements after about five weeks of leave but this time she’s expected to take considerably more leave with her family.

Apartment 1A in Kensington Palace in London will remain the family's official home.