Princess Eugenie Moves into Kensington Palace Ahead of Wedding

Princess Eugenie has followed in the footsteps of Prince Harry by moving into Kensington Palace ahead of her wedding later this year.

The Queen's granddaughter and her fiancé, Jack Brooksbank, have taken over the three-bedroom Ivy Cottage in the palace complex, which is now home to 15 current and future royals.

The couple moved in last week while the Duchess of Cambridge was giving birth to her third child.

Eugenie is just yards away from Prince Harry and his future wife, Meghan Markle, who live in the two-bedroom Nottingham Cottage, where Prince William and Kate Middleton previously resided.

Both couples will marry at St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle; Harry and Meghan later this month and Eugenie and Mr Brooksbank in October.

Eugenie and her partner announced their plans to move into the cottage two years ago.

The property was formerly the family home of the deputy head of the palace's property section, who retired more than two years ago.

A comparative property would cost around £3,500 per week to rent, according to a source quoted in The Sun.

Eugenie and Harry are said to be very close, and she was one of the first people to meet Meghan.

“Eugenie is so pleased,” the source said.

“It's the first time she and Jack have lived together.

They wanted to move in earlier but there were arguments over who paid for renovations.”

The arrival of Eugenie and Mr Brooksbank means that Kensington Palace is now home to 11 other members of the royal family.

Prince William and the Duchess of Cambridge live there with their children, George, Charlotte and newborn son Louis.

The palace is also home to the Queen's cousins, including the Duke and Duchess of Kent, Prince and Princess Michael of Kent, and the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester.

For years, Kensington Palace was said to be an unlucky royal home.

Princess Diana considered it more prison than palace, while Queen Victoria, who was born there, was also said to hate it.

Princess Margaret was lonely in her 22-room apartment, which has since been refitted at a cost of £4.5m and is now home to William and his family.

Originally a Jacobean mansion, Kensington Palace was bought in 1689 for the princely sum of 18,000 guineas by William III.

He hoped to benefit from the Kensington air, which was cleaner than in the city centre, due to his chronic asthma.

Sir Christopher Wren was commissioned to make it a home fit for a king.

The palace is now home to more than 50 senior courtiers, military figures, domestic staff and even some members of the public, who pay market rent for their accommodation.

In return, they receive 24-hour armed police security, their own telephone exchange, and a team of gardeners and craftsmen to maintain the palace.

Eugenie previously shared a four-bedroom apartment with her sister, Princess Beatrice, at St James's Palace.

Eugenie and Harry are great friends, and she is said to be looking forward to being neighbours with him.

“It means a lot to her to have her family nearby,” the source added.