Pre-royal homes! Princess Kate, Duchess Sophie & more's humble houses before marriage

Prior to moving in with Prince William, Princess Kate lived with her sister, Pippa Middleton, in a Chelsea apartment. With three floors and three bedrooms, it was rather impressive and it sold for £1.88 million in September 2019. While not as grand as her future palace abode, it was still a noteworthy residence. Plus, Chelsea is a very sought-after part of London!

Kate's parents, Michael and Carole Middleton, bought Bucklebury Manor in Berkshire in 2012. It sits on an 18-acre estate and has seven bedrooms, a tennis court and a swimming pool. This remains Kate's family home, and it's somewhere she regularly visits.

Suits actress, Duchess Meghan, was living in Canada at the time she met Prince Harry and fell madly in love. In the Duke of Sussex's tell-all book Spare, Harry spoke about going to Meghan's Toronto home: "Meg was excited to show me her life, her dogs, her little house, which she adored". Meghan was a keen Instagrammer at the time, and she shared lots of glimpses inside her beautifully decorated home, including her immaculate rainbow-coordinated bookshelf and chic bedroom.

Before Edoardo's romance with Princess Beatrice, he was living with his fiancée Dara Huang in London. His family also have a spectacular 18th-century property known as Villa Mapelli Mozzi in Ponte San Pietro, a small town an hour's drive from Lake Como in Italy.

Speaking to The Telegraph, Edoardo revealed his ever-changing childhood living situation: "We lived in old mill houses, that kind of thing – I like trying to work out how to make an old building function for modern life," he said.

Jack Brooksbank married Princess Eugenie in 2018, and now they split their time between London and Portugal, along with their two boys, August and Ernest. Before he became a royal, Jack resided in a Wandsworth house which had been his family's residence since 2001. It is gated and surrounded by private land, making it a secluded spot for any visits.

Before marrying Prince Edward, Duchess Sophie still lived with her parents at age 34. Homestead Farmhouse in Brenchley, Kent, was her family home where she resided with her parents and brother, David.

It's a four-bed Grade II-listed farmhouse with a traditional thatched roof. It was sold by Sophie's parents in 2001 for £600,000 and is now believed to be worth over £1 million. After her royal wedding, she moved straight into her marital home Bagshot Park in Surrey in 1999, which was quite the upgrade!

Queen Camilla bought Ray Mill House in 1995, a year after her split from her first husband, Andrew Parker Bowles. She lived there between 1996 and 2003, before moving into King Charles’ London home, Clarence House, two years before they tied the knot.

Camilla still retains her idyllic country home, which she purchased for £850,000, and she often spends time there while her husband is at Highgrove. This decision is significant as it show's Camilla's independence. 

Features include an outdoor swimming pool, stables and sweeping countryside views. This beauty comes at a cost though as the riverside location makes the property susceptible to flooding, and Camilla has experienced heartbreaking floods on multiple occasions.