The King has purchased a multi-million-pound home next to Camilla’s country retreat (Image: Getty)
has purchased a £3 million home next to his wife’s country retreat over fears it would be turned into a busy wedding venue and invade her privacy. uses her country mansion, Ray Mill House, in Wiltshire, which she purchased in 1995 to spend quality time with her family away from public glare. But the reported the King stepped in concerning the neighbouring property, the Old Mill (the home opposite), which was about to be sold, and it is understood he purchased the property using private funds.
An undated listing brochure for an estate agent, which ceased trading in 2020, described the Old Mill as “set in the most idyllic position with breathtaking views of the river Avon and surrounding countryside. This enviable position offers great potential with low head water turbines providing an income, set within approximately two acres”. The house, which had been listed for £1.25 million, was then said to be “in need of some updating”.
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Ray Mill House, the Queen’s countryside mansion. (Image: PA)
The house has four bedrooms, two en suite bathrooms, a large “unconverted” room, two other bathrooms, three reception rooms, a kitchen and a cloakroom.
A royal source told the Mail on Sunday: “The new arrangement is a pragmatic solution, being both a sound financial investment and a way of maintaining Her Majesty’s privacy, protection and continued enjoyment of her much-loved home, without any public funds being used.
“I know how grateful and relieved she is, not least given all the additional stresses and anxieties of the past year,” the source added, in an apparent reference to her husband’s cancer diagnosis.
Camilla bought Ray Mill House for £850,000 after . In 2009, the Queen, then the Duchess of Cornwall, was granted permission to do her own work when she wanted to extend her country mansion to create space for her grandchildren to stay. The extension included a new attic staircase at the 27-acre property.
She also retreated to the home after the state funeral and mourning period that followed
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Property developer Phil Clayton, 60, bought The Old Mill seven years ago for £675,000 and immediately began major renovations as reported in the Mail.
Local opposition existed when Mr Clayton converted a former garage on the grounds into a holiday apartment known as Pear Tree Loft. Wiltshire Council granted him planning permission to use the outbuilding as a holiday let in February 2022, and since then, the one-bedroom apartment has been listed on Airbnb and Booking.com for £157 a night.
The Old Mill dates from the Norman Conquest, while the nearby village of Lacock is recorded in the Domesday Book.