Prince William and Princess Kate's neighbours welcome surprising addition to grand home

The neighbours of the Prince and Princess of Wales have welcomed a surprising new addition to their grand residence, which happens to be just minutes from William and Kate's Norfolk estate, Anmer Hall.

The Marquess and Marchioness of Cholmondeley, otherwise known as Lord David Cholmondeley and his wife, Rose Hanbury, have installed cast iron life-size statues of nude people on the grounds of their home, Houghton Hall, as part of an art exhibition created by Sir Antony Gormley's exhibition, Time Horizon.

The figures, six foot in stature, are scattered across the grounds of the grand estate which boasts more than 300 acres.

Art followers can visit the stately home and gardens to observe the exhibition for themselves at £22 a ticket.

Antony explained his ambition for his latest project: "Time Horizon is not a picture, it is a field and you are in it. The work puts the experience of the subject/visitor/protagonist on an equal footing with all material presences, organic and inorganic.

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"The quality of the light, the time of the year, the state of the weather and the condition of your mind, body and soul are all implicated in the field, as is all the evidence within it of human activity already accomplished as well as the plethora of life forms that surround the hall."

David stated that they were excited to welcome the art exhibition onto their grounds: "We are excited to have the opportunity to show this large-scale work by Antony Gormley for the first time in the UK.

"The 100 life-size sculptures will cover a much larger area than our previous shows, allowing visitors to experience more of the historic landscape surrounding the house."

Houghton Hall is a Grade I listed estate is where the Cholmondeley's reside for most of the year but members of the public are able to visit the house and grounds throughout the year.

The estate is located in King's Lynn in Norfolk and is approximately a ten-minute drive from Prince William and Princess Kate's royal residence, Anmer Hall.

The Prince and Princess of Wales spend a lot of time at their home in Norfolk and it's thought of as one of their most beloved residences.

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Thanks to its close proximity to the Sandringham Estate, where the monarch traditionally spends festive holidays, William and Kate and their three children, Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis typically spend the Christmas holidays at Anmer.

This year, the family are spending an extended period at Anmer over the Easter holidays following the Princess of Wales' announcement that she begun preventative chemotherapy treatment at the end of February.

Kate shared a video message last week explaining that her surgery in January was initially thought of as non-cancerous, however, subsequent test results showed that cancer had been present and she was advised to commence treatment.

"This of course came as a huge shock, and William and I have been doing everything we can to process and manage this privately for the sake of our young family. As you can imagine, this has taken time. It has taken me time to recover from major surgery in order to start my treatment," the royal explained.

"But, most importantly, it has taken us time to explain everything to George, Charlotte and Louis in a way that is appropriate for them, and to reassure them that I am going to be ok."

The Waleses typically retreat to Norfolk at this time of year and will be residing at Anmer Hall until mid-April before William returns to royal duties and the children return for the Summer term.