It did cost the taxpayers 4.5 million to refurbish the Waleses Kensington Palace apartment, the money came from the Sovereign Grant. I stand corrected on Anmer Hall as that refurbishment was paid for out of royal personal funds. Adelaide Cottage did not need any real refurbishment apparently.

End of the day we may know that the taxpayers did not pay for everthing, the public however only sees the royals with so many homes and yet here comes another one, in a recession it looks bad on the royal family.

If The Royal Lodge is in such bad repair, it will cost quite a bit to bring it up to date, including dealing with the mold problem. When The Duke of York took on the Royal Lodge it cost almost 8 million to refurbish it, I can only imagine the cost now.

Frogmore House is empty and has only been used for royal receptions, so it is somewhat available, it makes sense for the Waleses to either live in Windsor Castle or Frogmore, as it may be some time before they can live in the Royal Lodge, if that is where they are heading.