The Royal Family Has A History Of Bad Luck At The House Prince William Thinks Is 'Cursed'

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Britain's history is long and filled with tales of odd happenings, and more than a few of those stories center around the royals. From the headless ghost of Anne Boleyn roaming around Blickling Hall to the supposed curse of the Koh-i-Noor Diamond, the royal household has dealt with much weirdness, but for the Prince and Princess of Wales, one cursed home was too much to bear.

Prince William moved his family into Adelaide Cottage in 2022, but quickly moved them out before 2025 came to a close, believing that living in the nearly 200-year-old home was causing the misfortune his family suffered over the three year period. Not long after William moved his family into the home, Queen Elizabeth II died. That was followed by growing tensions between William and his brother, Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, and the cancer diagnoses of both his father, King Charles III, and his wife, Kate Middleton. As one source told Marie Claire, "Every part of Adelaide Cottage, sadly, had an unpleasant memory associated with it," before adding that, with all the family has been through, it's "little wonder that William feels like it was cursed."

Like a family fleeing a haunted house, William took his wife and children away from Adelaide Cottage as quickly as he could. The moment renovations at Forest Lodge were completed, the family moved in, kicking the then-current residents of nearby homes to the curb. They even paid for the move themselves. And while the chances of a home being cursed are unlikely, things have seemingly calmed down for the Windsors. A month after escaping the cottage, Charles announced his cancer treatment was going well, and in August 2026, Harry and the Sussex family moved back home. 

While it may be easy to scoff at the idea of curses, there may be more to this one than many realize. Built for Queen Adelaide in 1831, the four-bedroom cottage became the centerpiece of one of the royal family's biggest scandals of the 20th century. In 1944, Royal Air Force hero Peter Townsend moved his family into Adelaide Cottage after earning a position in King George VI's Royal Household. In 1952, Townsend divorced his wife after she had an affair. That same year, George VI died and Townsend became close to his daughter, but the tragedy plagued Princess Margaret. Townsend soon fell in love with the princess, writing in his autobiography, "Time and Chance," "She was a girl of unusual, intense beauty, confined as it was in her short, slender figure and centered about large purple-blue eyes, generous, sensitive lips and a complexion as smooth as a peach."

Margaret also loved Townsend and, despite the 16-year age gap, wanted to marry him. But because Margaret was under 25, she needed the queen's approval and that of the Head of the Church of England — an organization that's famously uneasy with divorce and second marriages — putting the queen mother in a precarious position. Even more, Margaret and Townsend would've needed the British Parliament to agree to their marriage, which was not likely to happen. 

The couple decided to wait until Margaret turned 25, but Prime Minister Anthony Eden had other plans. A divorced man himself, Eden declared that if the princess were to marry Townsend, she would lose her royal status, leaving her without family or wealth. Faced with a choice between her love and causing a royal scandal, Margaret ended her courtship with Townsend.