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For close to two decades, a local resident has taken pleasure in early morning walks through the park's ancient-oak studded open fields with the ability to let her dog without a leash.

Over the past few weeks, though, she has noticed worrisome alterations: fencing appearing around her regular route near Cranbourne Gate, trenches being dug, shrubs installed, and surveillance cameras set up.

The previous week she saw three men carrying a “no public entry” sign. “So, I walked up to them and said: ‘Oh, are you going to close this area?’ And one guy sticks the sign behind his back, and said: ‘We’re just checking the size of the sign for somewhere else.’ Then they all clammed up.”

The next day she had her answer. The park management announced an no-access section of about 60 hectares of previously publicly accessible land to accommodate the latest home of the Prince and Princess of Wales and their young family.

“Due to the pending designation of part of the Great Park as a security act protected section, access via the Cranbourne entrance will permanently cease on that date in 2025. As a result, that lot will be permanently closed from the evening before,” officials announced.

During a conversation this week with the entertainer the performer at the castle for the Apple TV+ series The Reluctant Traveler, the Prince spoke of his aim to safeguard his loved ones from the press intrusion that he and his sibling had faced as kids. George, 12, Charlotte, 10, and Prince Louis, seven, did not have smartphones, he said.

William said of the “insatiable” media he encountered growing up: “They wanted every bit of detail they could absorb and they were in everything, literally everywhere. They would know things, they’d be everywhere.

“And if you let that creep in, the damage it can do to your family life is something that I vowed would never happen to my family.”

The Georgian mansion, an spacious protected estate home, has been chosen by the couple their “permanent residence”. Not all locals are pleased, particularly those who often walk in the area now blocked by a 3.7-kilometer perimeter security section.

“To the people who lose it, it’s a big loss. There are so many houses they could have chosen, why choose one where the public has to lose such a big chunk of the park for their private benefit,” said she, who did not provide her surname. “I am very upset.”

She added: “I do think it’s outrageous, the way it was done. I think it’s a selfish act.”

Considerable reverence is shown to the monarchy in these parts. A number, actually, believed the royal family owned the park, she said. Currently about 50% of the land is private and the remainder available for use.

Monarchial connections stretch back to approximately 1070 to the Norman king, who used the area as a hunting estate and established a dwelling here. Although sections were once made private by Oliver Cromwell to help pay for the the conflict, the area was enhanced in the 17th century during the Restoration.

It continued as the personal fiefdom of the king or queen until the king in the eighteenth century gave up income from monarch's properties to the government in exchange for the fixed annual civil list payment. Windsor Great Park, and the mansion, is now the property of the crown estate, a national organization whose revenues go to the state finances. “Which means it belongs to you and me,” said Tina.

The couple are moving from their current home not far. They also have Anmer Hall on the royal property, 21-roomed Apartment 1A in Kensington Palace, and Tam-Na-Ghar cottage at the castle which was given to the prince by the his grandmother.

The royal household and the Home Office offered no statement when contacted, on the grounds they avoid commenting on protection issues. A royal source has previously said that in lately the couple have endured “some really difficult times” at Adelaide Cottage. With the Princess in recovery after her cancer diagnosis, the move would give them a “fresh start and a new chapter” and allow them “to leave some of the more unhappy memories behind”.

While some people in the town, including on Facebook, have expressed their frustration, others are accepting. An individual, a resident, who takes his pet in the park about a few times monthly, stated: “I completely understand the safety of them is top priority so we should make sure they can live happily here.”

The estate has said parking will remain available at another lot, “located just down the road”. But for dog walkers it is different, as the route intersects with traffic and a hamlet and would mean dogs being restrained at times. “At the moment I can walk off the lead all around the Cranbourne Gate, that’s the joy of it,” said she.

An official for Windsor Great Park said: “A protective perimeter is being established by the authorities and local law enforcement in a limited section of Windsor Great Park to support enhanced protective measures. This does not affect the most of public access to the park and steps have been taken to reduce the impact on the public as far as possible.”

This is not unprecedented, a Windsor estate property for a royal figure has caused controversy. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex refunded millions of taxpayer funds spent refurbishing their former home as their marital home after backlash they had resided there for under 12 months before moving abroad.