According to a source at the Queen's nearby Sandringham Estate the demands of the role had become too much. Photo / Getty
According to a source at the Queen's nearby Sandringham Estate the demands of the role had become too much. Photo / Getty
This was one of NZH Lifestyle's top stories for 2017
A housekeeper who earned £35,000 a year to cook, clean and shop for the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and their children in their Norfolk home has quit her job after the post became "too demanding", it has been reported.
Sadie Rice, 35, has been working at the couple's country home for two years, but reportedly refused to spend more time at their London home, Kensington Palace, which they share with Prince Harry.
Ms Rice's departure will be inconvenient at a time when William and Kate have been seeking to expand their household staff.
Sadie Rice's decision is said to be in part due to the lack of a life she felt she had outside of her work for William and Kate. Photo / Facebook
The Royal couple have spent an increasing amount of time in their London home since they decided to enroll Prince George at private Thomas's School in Battersea, south London.
A source at the Queen's nearby Sandringham Estate told the Sun: "Sadie's a hard worker but the job's demands got too much, even for her.
"They wanted her to spend more time at Kensington Palace and her work was increasing all the time.
"She wasn't having a normal life outside work. Sadie's serving her notice and it seems nothing will change her mind. It's their loss."
Neither Sandringham Estate or Kensington Palace were able to confirm that Ms Rice has resigned from her post.
A spokesperson for Kensington Palace said: "We cannot comment on the Duke and Duchess's private staff."
The unconfirmed departure of Ms Rice - who used to work for the Prince of Norway according to the Daily Star - comes as William and Kate seek to boost the size of the team who work to keep life at Kensington Palace running smoothly.
Shortly after Prince Philip announced that he would be stepping down from public engagements, two of his young staff Corporal Stewart Harvey and Lance-Sergeant Stuart Hayes were seconded to Kensington Palace as a result of having increasingly little to do.
Kate is also hunting for a new principal private secretary after it was reported that Rebecca Deacon is leaving the post this summer after ten years in royal service.
The Royal couple have also recently hired a second housekeeper at Anmer Hall - Emma Boyce, 35, who previously worked for Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie for a decade.
A Sandringham insider told the Daily Mail the mother-of-two was a "welcome addition", adding: "She is very popular and friendly and George and Charlotte already get on well with her and her kids - she has a boy and a girl."
Anmer Hall where William and Kate lived while George attended nursery. Photo / Getty
Current Kensington Palace staff include housekeeper Antonella Fresolone and Prince George and Princess Charlotte's Spanish nanny, Maria Borrallo.
William and Kate have moved back to London with Prince George, three, and Princess Charlotte, two, as George prepares to start attending Thomas's school in Battersea in September.
The young royal enjoyed his early years at a small local village nursery, the £5.50 an hour Westacre Montessori, while the family were still based at Anmer Hall.
Princess Charlotte, who celebrated her second birthday in May, will soon start nursery school in London.
More than £4.5 million of taxpayers' money was spent on Apartment 1a of Kensington Palace when William and Kate married in 2011, but they lived there for only a few months before moving to Anmer Hall in Norfolk.
The palace is also home to Prince and Princess Michael of Kent, the Duke and Duchess of Kent and the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester, while Princess Eugenie is expected to move there this year.
Prince Harry's girlfriend, actress Meghan Markle, is also a regular visitor at his two-bedroom cottage in the grounds of Kensington Palace.
