Kate Middleton and Prince William’s move to Forest Lodge in Windsor Great Park was meant to be a peaceful royal retreat but it’s turned into a thorn in the side of local families and educators.
The couple’s new home has prompted the creation of a high security cordon by the Crown Estate, Thames Valley Police, and the Home Office, restricting public access to around 150 acres of parkland, including walking paths, a tourist car park, and gates used by residents.
The Windsor Great Park Environmental Centre is a children’s nature hub run by the Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust.
Once a bustling site for hands on forest and grassland ecology lessons, the centre now sits within the restricted zone, forcing all school visits and educational programmes to be paused indefinitely.
The irony isn’t lost on locals, the Princess of Wales, famed for championing children’s outdoor learning and the benefits of nature, has inadvertently made one of the region’s key environmental education sites off-limits.
Established in 2017 with Crown Estate support, it welcomed thousands of pupils eager to explore ecosystems but teachers are now scrambling for alternatives while the Wildlife Trust searches for a new home for its programmes.
While the Princess of Wales has long championed the benefits of children spending time outdoors calling nature “a sanctuary” and urging others to “reconnect to nature” her family’s move to Forest Lodge has ironically put one of the region’s key environmental learning hubs off limits.
The Windsor Great Park Environmental Centre, once was a lively classroom for hundreds of schoolchildren exploring forest and grassland ecology.
Trails that were once open to ramblers, cyclists, and dog walkers have been blocked, along with car parks and public roads, leaving locals frustrated and teachers scrambling for alternatives.
The Crown Estate insists the restrictions are temporary, but no reopening date has been provided.
Critics argue the optics are hard to ignore, a Princess preaching environmental stewardship while a hub built to nurture that very connection is fenced off.
