After an extraordinarily turbulent few years — marked by cancer diagnoses within the Royal Family, the passing of Queen Elizabeth II, and intense public scrutiny — Prince William and Princess Kate made the decision to relocate to Forest Lodge, a £16 million property nestled within the sprawling Windsor Great Park estate.

For the royal couple, it was a promise of privacy.
For some locals, it felt like something was taken away.

“We Only Had Days Before It Was Gone”

In September, residents say they were blindsided by sudden changes. Miles of fencing began appearing. “No public entry” signs were installed. CCTV cameras went up. Trenches were dug. A heavy police presence followed.

Then came the email.

Access via Cranbourne Gate would permanently close. The car park would shut. Large sections of previously accessible land — reportedly around 150 acres — would fall within a new security exclusion zone.

Anyone entering the designated area could face arrest under the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act.

For long-time park users, the shift felt abrupt and deeply personal.

Tina, a Windsor resident who has walked the park for 15 years, says the reality is far more significant than many headlines suggest.

“People think it’s just a small two-mile radius,” she explains. “But thousands of acres are effectively impacted. For many of us, this was our daily life.”

“It’s Like Losing Your Back Garden”

Windsor Great Park is partly public and partly private. More than half is already restricted — making the remaining public areas, locals argue, incredibly precious.

Tina used to train her energetic Golden Cocker Retriever off-lead in open oak-dotted fields near Cranbourne Gate. Now, she says, walkers are being funneled into already crowded sections of the park.

“At weekends, it’s ridiculously overcrowded,” she says. “The open countryside made it easy to train my dog. Now we’re forced into dense woodland or busy areas.”

She recalls meeting another woman in the park just days before access ended.

“She told me she cried when she got the email.”

Others who held special access keys to nearby woodland — describing it as “like their back garden” — were also left devastated.

“I haven’t been back,” Tina admits. “Seeing it all fenced off with police signs… it hurts.”

More Than Just Walking Routes

The impact reportedly extends beyond dog walkers.