Pippa Middleton and Husband Win Fight to Keep Berkshire Driveway Private
Pippa Middleton and her husband James Matthews have won the fight over their driveway.
A planning inspector, the independent official who decides land-use disputes in England, declined to turn part of their front drive into a public footpath, a legally protected walking route that owners must keep open. The ruling ends a challenge brought by the West Berkshire Ramblers, a local hiking group, over a 400-metre track on the couple's estate.
The couple live at Barton Court in Kintbury, a village in Berkshire, a county west of London. Middleton is the younger sister of Catherine, Princess of Wales. Her husband is a hedge fund manager. They moved to the property in summer 2022 with their three children, Arthur, Grace and Rose, according to Town & Country.
Barton Court is large by any measure. The estate covers 145 acres and the house has 32 rooms, ITV News reported. It is valued at £15 million, about $20 million.
Matthews bought the house in summer 2022. He said there was no sign the public used the driveway when he bought it. Before the family moved in, he had an electric security gate put up on the drive.
Security was central to the couple's case. Matthews said the family needs a higher level of protection because of their public profile. He told the inquiry that the gate itself had drawn no objections.
The previous owner backed them. Lady Victoria Conran, who sold Barton Court to the couple, said she had seen only one person use the driveway without permission in three decades.
The inspector did not decide the case on security. At a public inquiry in May, the couple were told they could not rely on privacy and security concerns alone to keep a path closed. The test was use. The inspector found public use of the track was infrequent and refused the Ramblers' application to add it to the official map of public rights of way, The Telegraph reported.
What makes this stand out for American readers is how ordinary the process was. England has thousands of miles of public footpaths, many crossing private land. Anyone can ask a local council to add a route to the map. An inspector then weighs witness statements and old maps. Famous neighbors get no special rule. They won here on the evidence of footsteps, not status.
