Inside Kate Middleton’s party pal Rose Hanbury’s 106-room estate – from kids roller-skating in halls to Kate Moss visits

that she struggled to feel at home in the gigantic Palladian home, which her husband, David Rocksavage, the 7th Marquess of Cholmondeley, inherited when he was 30.

And she also has the enviable problem of having no idea how many rooms are in her own home (reportedly 106).

Rose shared: “Moving anywhere feels awkward at first, and it took me a while to adjust and feel at home. 

“We use the ground floor, and the second and third floors, where the are. The first floor is mainly occupied by the State Rooms. I don’t know how many rooms we have in total.”

So what exactly does take place within the walls of Houghton Hall?

Halls so large you can rollerskate in them

Rose resides at Houghton Hall with her husband, her twin boys, Alexander and Oliver, and daughter Iris - along with their whippet, Benjy.

“The children love Houghton and I do think they appreciate it, including having so much space to run around in the grounds,” Rose added. 

“The boys also love the main arcade – the entrance hall – and use it as a skateboarding and roller skating arena. It has columns to weave between and they get up quite a speed.”

And Alexander and twin Oliver - who starred as a page in King Charles’ coronation - don’t just have their own bedrooms. 

The boys living quarters are separate hexagonally-shaped, domed cupolas.

The “magical” rooms are even decorated so one resembles the night sky and the other a day sky. 

Running Houghton Hall is no mean feat, with royal expert Ingrid Seward telling Fabulous: "Since Rose's marriage, she has been a mother, a hostess and running the stately home, Houghton Hall, which is a full time job.";

24-hour raves

The jaw-dropping estate, which dates back to the 1720s, is just a stone's throw (three miles to be exact) from the Prince and Princess of Wales' Anmer Hall.

So it was very handy for Kate to pop over to enjoy her first ever 24-hour rave there earlier this month, Houghton Festival, which takes place annually in the grounds.

This year it ran from last Thursday to Sunday and featured more than 200 artists performing across 13 stages with music always playing somewhere at the site.

In 2019, there were rumours of a rift between Kate and Rose, which were later slammed by friends as “false” and “mad.”