The reason Carole and Michael Middleton had to sell their £1.3 million village home

Carole and Michael Middleton had to sell their £1.3 million home back in 2012 because of this bittersweet reason.

• The Princess of Wales's parents live in Bucklebury, a small village in Berkshire.
• The family moved in 2012, and the decision behind their big move has been revealed by inside sources.
• In other royal news, Sophie Wessex's 'super private' second wedding dress had a romantic detail that will blow your mind.

When the Princess of Wales was simply known at Kate Middleton, she grew up in Berkshire with her parents, Carole and Michael. The family lived in a property named Oak Acre in Bucklebury from 1995 - when Kate was just 13 - until 2012, the year after Catherine married into the Royal Family following her wedding to Prince William in 2011.

Hello! (opens in new tab) reported that the reason the Middleton family decided to move away from Oak Acre, their family home where they raised their children, was because of the new security risk they faced as family members to a royal.

Hello! reported, "Her [Catherine's] parents decided to upgrade to the £ 4.7 million Bucklebury Manor after they deemed it to not be private enough."

The Middleton's moved from the six-bedroom property, Oak Acre House which has an estimated worth of £1 - 1.6 million (according to Zoopla (opens in new tab)) to the much larger seven-bedroom home, Bucklebury Manor which is currently estimated to be worth £4.5 - 5 million. It is thought that Bucklebury Manor is a more private and less overlooked property as opposed to Oak Acre House which had a few public access points, and could have left the Middletons vulnerable to the press given their daughter's new royal status. 

It is thought that Prince George spent the first few months of his life in Bucklebury Manor, after Kate made the decision to spend more time around her family for support during her pregnancy. Catherine suffered from a condition known as hyperemesis gravidarum which can be extremely debilitating and in certain cases life-threatening as it causes unrelenting nausea and vomiting for pregnant women.

Following her first child's birth, Kate decided to stay in Bucklebury for a little longer and it was revealed that Carole Middleton played a 'crucial' role in soothing Kate Middleton's parenting fears. 

Channel 5’s royal correspondent Simon Vigar said in True Royalty’s documentary, Kate Middleton: Heir We Go Again, "Carole is very involved in the upbringing of George and looking after her eldest daughter Kate when she was ill with this extreme morning sickness. For many weeks, Kate was at home in Berkshire with mum and dad and Grandma Middleton was taking up the strain."

Despite having all adult children who have their own partners and have moved out of Bucklebury Manor, the home is still a key place for the Middleton children, and the youngest Middleton daughter decided to have her wedding on her parent's expansive grounds. Pippa Middleton tied the knot with James Matthews in 2017 and the couple held their reception in a huge glass greenhouse that was erected in the grounds at Bucklebury Manor.