How Adelaide Cottage was place of 'pain, suffering and sadness' for Kate Middleton, Prince William?

Prince William and Kate Middleton recently moved to their new home, Forest Lodge, which will offer them fresh start after a challenging chapter.

This has been said by royal expert Sally Bedell Smith, while speaking to the PEOPLE for this week's exclusive cover story.

The Wales family moved to the Forest Lodge, a secluded property in Windsor Great Park.

There are reports the eight-bedroom residence is Kate Middleton and Prince William’s forever home and they will remain there even when William becomes King one day.

The expert said, "Adelaide Cottage was a place of pain, suffering and sadness. After such rough times it’s perfectly understandable they would want a new place.”

Prince William and Kate Middleton moved to Adelaide Cottage, their previous home nearby in 2022.

Days after their children started school there, the home quickly became tied to some of the hardest chapters of their lives.

Queen Elizabeth died days after Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis started the school, and the turbulence followed Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's bombshell docuseries and Harry’s subsequent memoir, Spare, published in 2023.

In February, King Charles announced his cancer diagnosis while the Princess of Wales was privately managing her own.

Kate Middleton also announced her cancer diagnosis in March.

Royal historian Amanda Foreman also tells PEOPLE, "She didn’t just face a life-­ threatening illness — the global Internet went after her.

"It was a character assassination."