Prince William and Kate Middleton may appear to lead a picture-perfect royal life, but OK! can reveal their home is said to be haunted.
And it seems to have piqued their interest in the supernatural when it comes to the way they are raising their kids, Prince George, 12, Princess Charlotte, 10, and Prince Louis, 7.
While trick-or-treating is less popular in the U.K. than in the U.S., the family has maintained the tradition, with Kate spotted shopping for costumes and taking the children door-to-door. Halloween, however, is only one facet of the family’s spooky interactions.
Their country home, Anmer Hall, located on the Sandringham Estate in Norfolk, is said to be haunted.
“When the Prince of Wales and Princess of Wales moved into Anmer Hall, there was a ghost there of a Catholic priest that lived there and was hanged, drawn, and quartered for high treason, and for some reason, has returned to his home,” paranormal historian Richard Felix said on “Hello! A Right Royal Podcast” in an episode titled Ghost Story Special.
He added: “Although he was executed in York, they’ve actually heard his voice. And they have seen the ghost of what they say is a priest, wandering around Anmer Hall. Before the Waleses moved in, they were warned about the ghost and the comment was, I presume it was from Prince William, he said, ‘No old hall would be complete without a ghost, would it?'”
A source said the combination of Halloween celebrations and the Anmer Hall “hauntings” have left William, Kate and now their kids “obsessed” with the paranormal.
They added: “The family has bonded over the spooky tales that surround them.”
William and Kate love teasing their children about the ghosts that are said to loiter in ancient royal buildings.
“They don’t do it in a nasty and scary way, though – the children are genuinely interested in ghost stories, and none of the spirits they are told about are frightening. At Halloween and Christmas, the family loves nothing more than sitting by the fire watching ghost tales on the TV. It’s a cozy bonding, nothing frightening,” the source said.
Kate’s enthusiasm for Halloween extends beyond the royal household.
Her mother, Carole Middleton, formerly the owner of Party Pieces, wrote on Instagram, “Halloween is an autumn highlight for me.”
She added: “I can still remember the fun and frights from my own childhood; the chance to dress up, decorate pumpkins and go trick-or-treating!”
Carole also said she has grown her own pumpkins for the spooky season. Local sightings of Kate shopping for costumes have occurred over several years. In 2019, Kathy Whittaker spotted her at a Norfolk supermarket.
She said: “I didn’t see what she actually bought. The lady that told me she was there had children with her, and she said Kate was asking her children what they were going to be for Halloween. I think she bought some Halloween bits for her kids, but I don’t know what.”
William’s grandmother Queen Elizabeth II and other royals have had run-ins with ghosts.
Elizabeth even once joined a discreet exorcism-style “religious cleansing ceremony” at Sandringham after staff complained of eerie activity in the room where her father, King George VI, died.
Royal biographer Robert Hardman said he knows exactly how she ended up at the ritual.
He revealed: “It wasn’t a conventional exorcism. There was no dramatic casting out of demons, like you see in films. But the space was thought to be spiritually unsettled, and a parson was called in to bless it. What’s surprising is that the Queen agreed to be there.”
The incident is said to have taken place in 2000, nearly five decades after George VI died in his bedroom at the royal estate in Norfolk. The claims, originally detailed in the private diaries of the late royal writer Kenneth Rose, resurfaced on the podcast “Queens, Kings and Dastardly Things,” hosted by Hardman and historian Kate Williams.
According to Rose, the alleged haunting that disturbed Elizabeth became a concern when royal staff began reporting unusual activity in the room, described by one insider as “deeply unsettling.” Unable to ignore the mounting anxiety, the late Queen Mother, then 100, allegedly consulted a local parson and arranged for a religious blessing to be held. Both she and her daughter, Queen Elizabeth, 74 at the time, were reportedly present, along with her lady-in-waiting, Prue Penn.
The episode, Hardman said, was not treated as a formal exorcism but as a solemn religious event.
“The parson performed a quiet service involving Holy Communion and specific prayers, believed to be aimed at settling the spirit of George VI,” he explained. “It was more about spiritual peace than supernatural confrontation.”
Hardman said the Queen’s attendance was especially unexpected given her generally skeptical view of such matters.
“The late Queen had a strong faith, but she was not superstitious,” he said. “She did not have time for these wilder theories, but she did have a strong sense of the spiritual, as does King Charles.”
The story has fueled long-standing rumors of paranormal activity at Sandringham, the 20,000-acre royal estate that has been a private residence of the monarchy since Queen Victoria purchased it in 1862.
The estate has long had a reputation among staff for unexplained occurrences, with reports of footsteps in empty corridors, flickering lights and objects moving without cause.
Paranormal researcher John West claimed in his book Britain’s Ghostly Heritage several staff members had reported seeing the ghost of former royal steward Tony Jarred. West also alleged a young Charles – now King Charles III, now 77 – once fled in terror from the library after a disturbing encounter, along with a staff member.
Hardman suggested the Queen Mother’s decision to hold the exorcism-esque ceremony may have been partly pragmatic, designed to reassure the staff that their concerns were being taken seriously. But Rose, who wrote extensively about the inner workings of the royal household, believed the parson genuinely felt there was a “restlessness” in the room and pushed for the spooky ritual.
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